Perfection
by Voidbringer8
Summary: There is an undeniable love that Ralsei has for Kris. The adventure through the Dark World and the all the times that would follow built the perfect relationship. (Kris is male in this story, if you do not approve I apologize. Fluffy garbage, with slight Susie x Noelle added in.)
1. Prologue - The Love I Know

Can perfection truly exist? I think so. It is easy to admit that "perfection" is used all too much in general conversation; so much so that part of its meaning has been eclipsed by its own cliché nature. It is easy to admit that "perfection" is something that cannot be; nobody is perfect, nor are ideas ever perfect, or societies, or anything-they are all only great, amazing, tremendous. And yet I still do believe perfection exists. Many will make attempts at catching the fleeting ideal, only to be left far in its trail with not a shred of it. That is why I think I am blessed: I did not have to chase after perfection. It came to me.

It is a memory I get the pleasure of reliving each day. I always am surrounded by its eternal warmth and radiance. Even now as I write the words on this page, I know three truths to my reality. Three truths that will never waver. Three truths I remind myself of each and every day.

I have my perfection; I am blessed.

I cannot lose my perfection; it is too attached to me.

Kris… I love you. Thank you for being my perfection. I hope I am yours, too.


	2. Chapter 1 - Memory, Part 1

Funny how a memory can seem so distant. It wasn't but a few days ago that I met the other heroes in the prophecy, but it feels like I've known them my whole life. In a way I suppose I have known them my whole life-but I knew that they were somewhere in the Light World. All I could do was wonder what they would be like, and wait for the time when I'd finally get to meet them.

Then came the day when the second Dark Fountain began to flow. I knew sooner or later everything that was destined to happen would come to fruition. And so, two Lightners arrived in my castle, one a Human and the other a Monster. Both of them defied my expectations.

The Monster-Susie-she was fun to deal with. At first, she saw nothing to the Legend, and wanted no part of it. She actually abandoned the Human and myself in my castle, and we had to find her. Evidently, she also saw nothing to acting or being a pacifist. Her ax in hand, she chopped through everything that stood in her way for longer than a second. It broke my heart a little to see how scared and how hurt everyone was. I did my best to heal them with my magic, and promised them that we'd find her and stop her somehow. So we did, at the edge of the field. She was trying to bust her way into the Great Board, but the path was sealed by the lock of a puzzle. We told her that she'd only ever get on if she solved the puzzle beforehand, and with a certain amount of reluctance, she came with us and helped momentarily. But every single time she saw anybody, she'd be absolutely convinced that they wanted to hurt us! The Human had an idea: we could warn everyone we came across so that they'd know to watch Susie carefully and dodge her ax. It worked wonderfully, but Susie seemed to get more and more annoyed with each swing that missed. It worried me greatly what would happen if someone were to get hit by her rage-infused strikes. Then as we made it across the Great Board, we finally met someone not afraid of her. K. Round took her hits well, and healed himself when he needed to. But after we had won by sparing him, my limit had been absolutely reached.

I might have said a few things to Susie, called her "a bad hero," and I definitely should've held my tongue. She admitted that she was a lousy hero, and since she was so bad she simply joined Lancer's scheming. For a moment I thought I ruined everything, blinded by a rage that was so unlike me.

But soon I came to love what I had done. In getting her close to Lancer, she mellowed out quite a bit. I think it may have been the first time Susie ever actually had a friend. Of course, being with Lancer, she did all she could to impede our progress, going so far as to fight us at one point. She promised that if we beat her in the fight, she'd be back on our side. And so we did what we do best, and we found a way to spare the both of them. She didn't think of it as a win, but she joined us anyway.

It was then that I could truly see just how much she had changed, she was willing to listen to what the Human said; even acting sometimes. She's a wonderful friend, she just needed a bit of guidance. I knew she was a hero!

The Human-Kris-he also defied my expectations. But unlike Susie, he was so much more than what I could ever ask for. He was a bit quiet actually, I didn't know whether to chalk it up to simple shyness or something like it, but that didn't bother me. He didn't talk, but he did listen. Where Susie opted not to listen to the Legend, or to me in general, Kris eagerly nodded his head when I had asked if they would hear my tale. Susie didn't believe a word of it, thinking it were all some fairy tale-I could not stop her. Kris accepted what I had said, and stayed when Susie had left. Humans cannot use magic of their own, but they tend to make incredible leaders and their skill for acting is impeccable. I told Kris he could lead, and for a moment I could've sworn I saw him hesitate, but a sparkling light appeared in his eye and he nodded. Thus the adventure began.

I didn't know how well they were with fighting, so I asked if they needed a lesson with the training dummy just beyond my castle. Despite their fight with Lancer, Kris took the opportunity. I had to generate a few weaker pellets to teach Kris how to dodge, and luckily he seemed to be a natural at it. It would've hurt me more than him if he actually got hit by anything of my own prowess. Then came the time to teach him how to fight. He had a sword, I was more than sure he knew what to do with it, so all I would do was watch him take a swing and maybe offer a few pointers if it wasn't very good. But then came the most amazing thing I had ever seen: he ran up to the dummy, sword in hand, and hugged it. He didn't attack at all! It was unexpected, but if that was how he wanted things to be, I'd be more than supportive-there's no reason for violence. There were only a few more things to say, mainly about myself and what magic I could do, but that wasn't the last of his surprises. Right before I called it a victory for us, he came over and gave me a big hug. I couldn't fathom why, maybe he wanted a lesson on hugging? But it was so warm and kind, I couldn't force him away. Eventually I just gave in and let myself be hugged, and that seemed to satisfy whatever desire ran through his head.

It seemed to be a victory more for me than for him, it was like he knew everything already. But he went with it anyway, never once speaking against it.

Right before we headed outside the lands under my control, I had to ask him if he were actually prepared for this whole journey. He flashed a wonderful smile, and spoke the first words I heard from him, "I can handle anything." The confidence in his voice reassured me in every way it could've, and so we stepped into the field.

Susie had already been through here. Only a few Rudinns were actually brave enough to try and stop us, and he managed to spare each and every one. I learned that he was observant, as he found a way that led to a small chest. Inside was a white ribbon, something I knew to be armor. I told him that he'd look lovely with it on, and that it would probably have benefits other than that. Next thing I learned was that his kindness was not reserved to our enemies. He came over to me, and tied the ribbon in a bow around my hat. "I think you'd look cuter in it than I would, Ralsei," he told me with his smile. I could only hope that my blushing wasn't too extreme. His laugh said that my hope probably wasn't true. I suppose he enjoyed seeing me like that, there was no way I wasn't blushing crazy earlier when he hugged me.

As a Darkner, my purpose is to help Lightners. Make them happy, assist them with some task, anything they need. I couldn't bring myself to tell Kris that him wearing the white ribbon would be more beneficial for him than me wearing it.

We went on. Kris still didn't seem to be much for conversation and I was starting to run out of things to say. Eventually Kris came to a dead stop and turned around to look at me. I was a bit confused by this, I had no idea if he saw something I didn't or if he sensed something, but he closed the distance between us and I got nervous. "Don't stop! You have a wonderful voice." I didn't even realize I was humming, but apparently it was loud enough for Kris to hear. But he said he liked it, so I started again with what I thought I was humming, and he simply smiled and started walking along.

Humans are odd. But not in a bad way, so I just continued with Kris.

When we found Susie, he seemed to be a bit more than just nervous. I had to wonder if Susie had done something to him that I didn't know about, but whatever the case was, I took over. Kris whispered 'thanks' as we went to go solve the puzzle that Susie didn't and Kris and I couldn't with only the two of us.

Then came the Great Board, which Kris weaved through its traps with ease. Lancer made an appearance, and he said he wanted to know what he should call us since up until that point he had been calling us clowns the entire time. He had a bucket for some other plan of his, and so each of us but Kris put a suggestion in it. Lancer told Kris to choose, and he picked mine! But Susie didn't approve of it at all, not surprising since she hadn't approved of a single thing I said up to that point, and so she shortened it down to the "Fun Gang." I actually was okay with that, and so was everyone else.

Then came K. Round, and Kris brilliantly found a way to spare him. But Susie wouldn't help us at all. When I had finally snapped on Susie, Kris came over and placed a hand on my shoulder and told me that what I had said was entirely justified. He told me that everyone in the Light World, himself included, they all wanted to tell Susie something along the lines of what I had. I still had an extreme amount of doubt, and I think he read me like an open book. He gave me another hug, telling me that he knew everything would work out in the end.

We travelled through Scarlet Forest, and Kris was being extremely patient with what Lancer and Susie were doing. I had such high respect for Kris in those moments leading up to the time of our fight with the two that called themselves the "Dark Fun Gang." Kris had another moment of brilliance. Remembering when we were fighting Ponmen in the Great Board, my singing would allow me to pacify them, but it was also put Susie to sleep. So he told me I should sing the same song as I was before, a simple lullaby that my parents used to sing to me, and it worked beautifully. Susie was practically taken out of the battle, leaving us to Lancer. Having fought Lancer once before, he knew that complimenting him seemed to do something. By time Susie woke up ready to fight, Lancer had no desire to fight us anymore.

When all was said and done, Susie and Lancer joined the Fun Gang. As a token of friendship, Kris gave us all a treat. I got a Dark Candy, which I loved, Susie got one of the cookies shaped like Lancer's face, and Lancer got a Hearts Donut from the bake sale earlier. We sat down and ate for a while and enjoyed each other's company. Susie and Lancer started a conversation of their own at some point, so I pulled Kris to the side. I wanted to talk.

"Not eating?" I asked, it did worry me that he wasn't eating.

"Not hungry. We have a bit of food left, if I wanted something I'd take it," he said.

"Oh… okay," I didn't pester him about it.

"Did you want something else?"

"Um… yes, actually. This might be an odd question, but… What do you think of me, Kris?"

It was something plaguing my mind. I had no idea when the thought appeared, but I knew it was there. There were quite a few people that didn't like me, Lancer and Susie being prime examples. Other times, there'd be Darkners that lie to me and pretend to be friends. I needed to know if Kris actually felt anything about me.

"Ralsei, what kind of question is that?" he almost seemed angry about me asking.

"I'm sorry… I just, um… I just don't think I'm all that liked by others. You see how Susie and Lancer treat me, a lot of Darkners think the same. My castle is empty besides me, I never could find anyone who'd want to be around me that long. I just…"

"Ralsei," he said emotionlessly.

"Yes?" I prepared myself for the worst.

"You are the most amazing, the sweetest, kindest, most perfect person I have ever met, Ralsei. Don't you forget it," he said, enveloping me in another hug.

If the seeds of love hadn't been planted yet, they definitely had been as those words were spoken. I think my feelings skipped all the way to when the flower bloomed, to be perfectly honest.

"Hey lovebirds! We're done over here, you wanna get going soon?" Susie yelled over.

Kris released me and I instantly missed the warmth I knew only a second before. But with a newfound energy, we continued on the road to Card Castle.


	3. Chapter 2 - Memory, Part 2

Walking through the ends of the Scarlet Forest started off quite peaceful. Kris was just leading the way, Susie, Lancer, and myself trailing behind. We spotted a Dark Candy tree, and Lancer admitted he kind of wanted to try one, so he and Susie worked together to get one down. He ate it quickly, then told Susie that it tasted like friendship. Which when asked what that tasted like he said that it was like his teeth were disintegrating. In the end, it did make me happy to see Susie and Lancer's friendship; those two certainly had something between them. Lancer made a few more quips as we went on, and I think we all really started to feel bad for him. It sounded like his home life was anything but good, and suddenly I understood why acted like he did. He had no positive role model in his life, nobody to look up to, nobody that really liked him at all. A lot like me, actually. Could it be that sometimes it's better to not have a family than to have one like his? I don't think I have an answer to that question.

He seemed to be happy with us though. I explained that as Darkners, we want nothing more than to help Lightners-it is our purpose. His dad, the King, hated Lightners. He didn't answer me when I asked if his dad was happy. I think Susie got especially off-put by the whole 'purpose' talk, so she cut the conversation herself. She said he was probably just excited from eating the Dark Candy, which he agreed to. But I heard Susie quietly saying to nobody in particular that she also felt kind of happy. It was a nice shift I saw in her.

But then things started to go downhill from there. As we got closer, we could easily see the Card Castle. Lancer asked if it really was the only way home. I thought it was just a way of being nice, the fountain was guarded by the King himself after all.

" _No one's_ gonna beat a team like us! If anyone gets in our way, all we gotta do… is _crush_ them," Susie said with her snarl.

She had been a lot more willing to spare by that point, but the violent part of her still existed. I thought about her words and how the King probably wouldn't see any kindness to Kris, how maybe we would actually have to fight, but then I remembered who was leading us-Kris. He surely would find a way, he found a way with everything else, spared and befriended every Rudinn, Ponman, and Bloxer up to this point.

But Lancer ran off, saying he needed to go and wasn't going to return. Susie charged after him, and in the heat of the moment I left Kris to go make sure Susie didn't do anything she'd regret. We ran after Lancer for a bit, and nearly caught him, but he entered the castle and slammed the gate shut. I realized then that Kris had been with us the whole time, and that we were now surrounded by Rudinn Rangers. They all attacked at once, and next thing I knew, Kris and I were inside a jail cell together.

A Rudinn was just outside our jail cell when we woke up, mocking us with a few words. We were to be imprisoned for eternity, though the Rudinn claimed it would've loved to see us suffer. Clearly it was brainwashed by the King, Kris didn't do anything to deserve this.

While I was thinking about how long we would be in here for, I realized Susie was missing. I knew she was either going to hurt herself or someone else, so I told Kris that there had to be some way out of here. He inspected a bit of moss in the corner, and the shackles left in the room with us. I was slightly confused as to what he was doing, but maybe there was the chance of a key being somewhere, surely that's what he was searching for. I started to help the search, but it ended up with nothing. Eventually Kris just rattled the door a bit, but that didn't do anything either.

"Kris, um… if there really is no way out of here, I just wanted to say…" I began.

"Hey, idiots! Can you shut up?!" I heard Susie shout.

I had no idea where she was, but surely she was nearby if she could hear us and we could hear her. She said she made her way out of the cell by sweet-talking the warden, which made me incredibly happy because finally she saw the worth of kindness, but then she said there was a puzzle in the way. She said she wasn't good with puzzles, and shouted the symbols across so that Kris could help her.

"Add a spade, add a diamond, swap, add a spade," he replied in an instant, but slow enough that Susie could do as instructed.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I whispered over. I don't know if my eyes were playing tricks or not, but I thought for a second I saw a faint blush on Kris' face.

Susie shouted that it had worked, and I told her to come free us, and I heard her footsteps get quieter and quieter. I didn't know the layout of the prison, but I was sure she wasn't just abandoning us.

I had to ask Kris if he was worried about Susie, she did seem a bit conflicted about her feelings and what she wanted ever since she met Lancer. He slowly nodded, but said he was sure she'd be fine. Kris was right about that. Susie was strong and could handle herself, but I think Kris was worried about whether or not she was okay.

It would be a few more minutes before Susie came and found us. Kris sat in silence, probably thinking about what Susie was doing. I was about to finish what I had started to say earlier, but it was right then that Susie appeared outside our cell. She opened it, and walked in. I knew she had the heart of a hero, I knew it!

She stepped back to let Kris take the lead again. The prison split into two paths, Susie pointed toward the path she hadn't gone down yet, and Kris took us that way. There was another split path, one leading to an elevator and the next leading to another room in the prison. Kris wanted to see what was in the other room before heading out, but the room was full of more prisoners and nothing else. He talked to a few of them, felt pity for them, then left with the promise that he'd free them after defeating the King.

We went back to the elevator and stepped inside. I knew the Card Castle was large, so I told them the ride may take a while. I pushed the button to the ground floor, and we all sat as the elevator began. We started to talk on our way up; Susie told us about what she saw on her way to our cell, how she fought Lancer and made up with him right after.

Susie asked about the King, if we really would have to fight him. It seemed she didn't really want to hurt him, and instead wanted to try acting with Kris and myself. I encouraged it, saying we'd support her when the time came. Then she asked if I would still make the cakes after all this was over. I had promised as we were walking to Card Castle that I'd make cakes, but only if Susie and Lancer stopped making fun of me. So I asked if she would stop now, and she rolled her eyes.

"If I _have to_."

It was good enough for me, so I said I'd make as many as she wanted. She challenged the thought, saying that I probably couldn't make that many. Kris seemed to enjoy our little banter, he was laughing to himself the whole time.

The elevator finally stopped, and we all headed out. Susie and Kris seemed to be talking about something behind me, but I couldn't quite catch any of it. Whatever it was, it brought a smile to Kris' face, so surely it couldn't have been anything bad.

But then we realized that there were Rudinn Rangers waiting for us. They raised their swords, and Kris quickly told Susie that she should compliment them. She had no idea what to say, so I told her that she should try saying something she wished someone would say to her. The first compliment was extremely awkward, "you are unbanned from free ham sandwich day," but it seemed to work nonetheless and I spared the first of the two Rangers. The other one took a few swings, but each of them were dodged fairly easily. Because her compliment had been so awkward though, Kris decided he'd show Susie how to do it. He complimented the Ranger on its looks, Rudinns always loved to be told how sparkly they are, and that did it. I spared the Ranger while Susie just looked on, her mouth agape.

We went on, into a room for the Rudinns living in the castle, and one of them recognized us as the 'peaceful Lightners' and gave us a Choco Diamond as a reward. It encouraged us to go stop the King, and so we left after talking to its friend.

The only way left was up the stairs, and so we entered a room full of traps. But it only took a minute for Kris to figure out how to navigate safely. With most paths blocked off, we went the way that was available. It led to a tiny corridor with nothing in it, but as we entered spikes rose from the floor and locked us in.

"So the worms have decided to crawl out and play…" a voice said.

We all looked around, then a blinding white light appeared and out came a figure.

"I am Rouxls Kaard, thou're greatest adversary!" he boasted.

He went on for a few moments about something or other, then showed us what was supposed to be the greatest puzzle we had ever seen. It was only a box and a button, the two being directly next to each other. Kris seemed especially confused, but simply pushed the box onto the button.

"GOD DAMN IT," Rouxls Kaard shouted, leaving the room extremely disgruntled.

It definitely was funny for all of us, but with nothing left to do we left the room in hopes that the other spike traps had been deactivated. They had been, and Kris found a chest at the end of a corridor with a Clubs Sandwich in it, and then we headed up another set of stairs. This floor was guarded by Head Hathys, which Kris wanted to get Susie to act on again. These ones liked to be flirted with, so Kris gave the order and Susie quickly dismissed it. I could only laugh for a bit, but I tried to help Susie and she said she didn't need it, so I let her go on her own. What followed may have been the most awkward attempt at flirting I had ever seen, she simply asked if they came here often, and one of them felt so weird about it that it actually left the battle. Their attack was a bit more unpredictable from the regular Hathys' but Kris quickly adjusted and dodged. Susie actually told Kris to go up and flirt this time, which he did and we couldn't really hear what he said, but the Head Hathy he told it to started blushing and I took the chance to spare it. Again Susie's mouth was agape from how well Kris could be kind to the enemies, which got me to laugh again.

We arrived on another floor, this one was filled with Dancers like we had seen in Scarlet Forest. Evidently this was going to be another puzzle floor, spikes barring our progress to the next floor, so we headed into another corridor, this one only slightly bigger than the one from earlier. Again Rouxls Kaard came, again he boasted about himself and how this puzzle was far too grand for us, and again Kris solved the puzzle in maybe half a second.

We went to the next floor after Kris grabbed a Revive Mint out of a chest, and this one seemed to be the business floor of the castle. There was a shop along with another room and an elevator. The shop was owned by Rouxls Kaard, but he welcomed us in as if he didn't know us. Kris bought me a new scarf, which was incredibly soft and gave me a feeling as if I could protect everyone. I still had the white ribbon and the rune bracelet Kris gave me earlier in the forest. Maybe Kris really did think of me as a friend, the bracelet did say 'friendship' after all. I definitely liked Kris, maybe a bit too much. But that's not something I could admit to him.

Nothing else on the floor really proved to be valuable, so we went up again. Rouxls Kaard appeared once more, summoning K. Round. We fought him again, and Susie had an idea for how dislodge his crown so that we could spare him. Kris and I went with the idea, but maybe I was less enthusiastic about Susie acting when she came over and threw me at the crown. I don't know if Kris liked the idea either, he only did it once more since it seemed to work better than trying to get K. Round to bow. But we eventually spared him again, and Rouxls Kaard gave up and let us pass.

The next flight of steps led to the throne room. It was horribly torn up, a sign of what was to come when we would fight the King. We anxiously went up the final set of stairs, and we saw Lancer talking with his dad about how we didn't actually have to fight at all. But it was no use, the instant the King saw us behind Lancer he kneeled and put a hand on Lancer's shoulder.

"Do you remember what I told you?"

"D-Don't get too attached?"

"You have failed."

The King went on to try and sway Lancer's opinions of us, and when Lancer refused to accept what his father was saying, he picked Lancer up by the throat and threatened to hurt him. Susie immediately pulled out her ax, and ordered that the King let Lancer go, so the King used it to his advantage and said he'd let him go; let him go falling off the side of the castle. That is, unless we kneeled before him. Of course, there was only one right answer there.

Susie dropped her ax, and all three of us kneeled. The King summoned up a few spades to attack us, but Lancer actually fought back before anything bad could happen. He managed to free himself from his dad's grip at the same time, and ran off.

By then, we knew there was no way to avoid a battle, but maybe we could still do it peacefully. Both sides prepared themselves, and immediately Kris gave the order for me to try and talk to the King. I told him that we didn't have to fight in this world, and he only responded with the notion that I'd die never realizing my naivety. We would win, I knew we would.

The King attacked with something similar to what Lancer would pull on us, so it was easy to dodge. Next was Susie's turn to try and reason with the King, she said that Lancer was her friend and she'd try to get by without fighting, since that's what he wanted. But the King wasn't having it, he welcomed his death, saying it would show Lancer that we really were monsters.

Another attack making the use of spades, another attack dodged easily. Kris tried to reason with the King, and again it failed. All of us decided maybe we could just outlast the King, so Kris gave the new orders that he would defend us, I would heal us, and if it came to it, Susie would unleash a powerful attack. It was a decent plan, the best we had for now.

The King's attacks proved useless. We defended and dodged, and anytime we got hit I healed any injuries immediately. The King was growing annoyed, his attacks were speeding up, some of them even becoming more complex, but nothing was working. His breathing grew heavy, and he collapsed to his knees. Maybe now we could do this peacefully.

He did appear to have a change of heart. There once was a time where Lightners and Darkners lived together in peace, and he claimed that he yearned for those days. But he was exhausted from the battle, and wanted a peaceful end. Kris put his sword away, and Susie dropped her ax slowly after some convincing. I went up and healed the King, we all wanted to be friends after all.

But it was a lie. The King, now healed, attacked us when our guards were down. I collapsed, so I couldn't really tell what was going on for a few moments. But eventually I heard a lot of voices, and got up to see Lancer commanding an army of Rudinns and Hathys. The end of the King's tirade was now, they took him away to the prison, as Lancer had ordered.

I had to apologize. Because of me healing the King, we almost lost. Leave it to me to ruin everything when I had excitedly screamed that I would protect everyone earlier. But Kris didn't feel that way at all, flashing his smile and saying that everything worked out just as it was supposed to.

But then came the most important part, the sealing of the Dark Fountain. There were a lot of people still here, cheering on Kris and Susie and myself. When they sealed the Dark Fountain, Kris and Susie would be taken back to the Light World, so I waved them off then. I was actually going to head back to my castle and get some well-earned rest, but then Kris came back and tackled me over with a hug. I guess he had to see me blushing just one more time, right?

Since everyone still here was practically having a party, I watched Kris and Susie go to everyone and talk for a moment, eventually going back into the castle to say goodbye to anyone not outside on the roof. But then as they went by a second time, I stopped them.

"Um, Susie… Kris? If we really must say goodbye then… I'd just like to say… I, um…" Kris and Susie had never seen me without my hat on, so I thought I'd take it off and show them what I really looked like.

"Uh… dude, could you move your hat? Kinda hard to hear you," Susie said.

"Oh! Sorry…" I moved my hat all the way down to my chest.

Susie definitely wasn't expecting it, the shock on her face told me that much. But Kris was blushing a little, there was a look in his eyes like he didn't want to leave anymore.

"I… really enjoyed meeting you two. I hope I can see you again soon!" I had to at least smile as I saw them off.

Kris ran up and gave me another hug. It was full of love, and I enjoyed it a lot. Susie practically had to rip us apart because Kris wasn't letting go and I wasn't about to tell Kris that he should stop.

But they left, Kris taking one last look at me before his figure disappeared. I watched the fountain as they were going, and as a light erupted from it I knew that it had been sealed and that they were gone. I put my hat back on, it was time to go home.

Evidently I wasn't at my happiest, a lot of the people still on the roof all looked at me with concern. "What's wrong?" and "Are you okay?" came at me from every which direction, but I didn't want to ruin all their fun at having overthrown the King, so I ran off. When I was sure I was out of everyone's sights, I started crying. I'd miss them, I really would. They were the only friends I had.

Getting back to my castle was easy, everyone seemed to be interested in the commotion at the Card Castle so there was nobody else to stop me on the way. I stepped into my castle and fell to the floor crying again.

"Kris…" was all I could whisper in between sobs.


	4. Chapter 3 - Missing You

For a time there was absolutely nothing to do. Kris and Susie had fulfilled the prophecy, at least until the balance would inevitably begin to shift again, and things went back to normal in a heartbeat.

Word spread like wildfire that the new King, Lancer, put into place a new policy: all Lightners were to be welcomed as friends. But what would cause a Lightner to end up here? Kris said on the journey that he got here from entering a closet in his school. That sounded incredibly specific, so I'm sure all links to the Dark World from the Light World probably were the same. In the event that that was the only bridge between worlds, there were only two people that even knew about it.

It has been many, many years since the Light and Dark Worlds were split apart from one another. There were some Darkners that assumed Lightners had abandoned them, but I know that's not true. For the longest time, Lightners tried to find a way to cross into our world, or better yet find a way to undo what had caused the split. Darkners did the same; it was practically a matter of life and death. Lightners needed Darkners just as much as Darkners needed Lightners. But links between our worlds began to fade away, until only a few existed in both worlds. Part of my life has been dedicated to searching for a way that our worlds could link again, but just as my ancestors hadn't found anything, I haven't either.

The first day back in my castle was spent sulking. I missed my friends, especially Kris. I baked a nice cake for myself to celebrate, but it didn't taste of anything. I couldn't comprehend words as I read, and there was no meaning to my writing. It was just me, alone in a castle bigger than Lancer's.

I thought for a moment that maybe I could go to the fountain and arrive in the Light World myself, but where would I end up? In Kris' school? What if when I arrived, nobody was there? Or even worse if I arrived in the middle of a group of Kris' friends, and they all panicked? It was also getting late, I didn't want to have to sneak through Lancer's castle even if I was allowed to.

But I couldn't get any sleep either. Thoughts of Kris had been in my mind ever since he left, and they weren't going away. Is it okay to like someone this much? Kris might find it creepy and that could ruin our relationship and…

No, Kris liked me back. Maybe not as much as I liked him, but Kris thought of me as a friend. I asked him specifically what he saw in me, I know he didn't lie when he called me a friend! He was different from everyone else, right? What reason did he have to hurt me? He didn't have one, did he? I made a few mistakes, but nobody's perfect… except him…

There had to be something that would make me feel better, something that wasn't a hug from Kris. Maybe I would go out and try and make some other friends. I was seen as a hero too, I think. Maybe now everyone liked me a bit better.

I suppose I also could go help Lancer rule his kingdom. But what did I know? It's not like I actually had any subjects to rule over…

Eventually I got so fed up with all the negative thoughts that I just retired to my room. I threw myself onto my bed and had to make a conscious effort at getting sleep, but I got there at some point. Oh, how I regretted it.

"Nobody likes you, why do you think Kris does?!" a voice yelled from somewhere.

I tried to run from the noise, but it followed me-or another one appeared, I couldn't really tell which it was.

"Look at how pathetic you are! Can't even defend yourself, how are you supposed to do anything?"

"I… I'm not useless!" I shouted back, running didn't seem like it would do anything.

"Are you sure? Kris never needed you to do anything, he did it all himself! You're no hero at all!"

"I…"

"You'll never see Kris again, he's already forgotten you!" the voice laughed.

"You're wrong! Get away!"

It was then that I woke up. I sighed, nightmares were becoming all too common. It wasn't even halfway until everyone else would wake up again, but I was too afraid to go back to sleep. I thought about what the voice had said, how true the words were. Kris probably already did move on, he probably had friends and family in the Light World that cared about him. I'm… nothing.

Ages had to have passed as I waited next day. Here in the Dark World there is no sun or moon, we just all kind of know how long a day is. It's a remnant of the past, back from when the Dark World was connected to the Light World.

I decided staying locked away in my castle wasn't doing anything for me, so I left the empty halls to go find anything to do. I found myself going to only the places that Kris liked, the part of the Field that still had a good view of my castle, a secluded spot of the Scarlet Forest where watched a few leaves fall. Kris made any place feel special for me, even if they were places I had seen countless times.

I actually ended up going to the Card Castle, it wasn't on purpose but I just found myself there. To my surprise there were two Rudinn Rangers standing outside that welcomed me into the castle, raising the gate as soon as they saw me. Maybe all my worrying was wrong, maybe there were some people that liked me. But then again, Lancer could've just ordered that they let me in if I came here. Maybe they were just listening to the new King.

I forced myself to step in, pushing away the thoughts I was getting in the process. There really wasn't much to see, so I just took the elevator up. I went up the two flights of steps leading to the throne room, and saw that it looked much better. There was a new chair, one fit for Lancer, and the walls and floors seemed to be entirely new. It appeared that Lancer had been busy while I was doing nothing. Lancer wasn't here though, so I just went up to the roof.

The Dark Fountain had definitely been sealed, it was entirely gone. I looked out to the rest of the Dark World. The reds of Scarlet Forest was pretty nice to see, but I just sighed at it all. I wasn't about to do anything drastic, but it still was a thought that occurred. Kris was everything I needed in life and now he was gone, maybe forever.

I looked back over at where the Dark Fountain once was. Perhaps it would let me go to the Light World, maybe it would let me be with Kris. But I remembered all the things that kept me from it, and left. Two flights of steps, an elevator ride, a stroll through Scarlet Forest, the Great Board, the Field, and I was back at my castle. My empty castle.

I stepped inside the entrance hall, and right as I pushed the first door open and took a step forward, a hand grabbed mine. The contact made me jump, and I turned around swiftly on my guard. But rather than someone that wanted to hurt me, I saw the greatest thing I possibly could've. It was Kris. Undeniably, it was Kris, standing right in front of me and staring at me. He reached for my hands again, put both of them in his own, and brought me in for a hug.

It was the best hug I ever had received. I melted into his warmth, and I may have shown a bit too much affection when I began to nuzzle him. But he didn't push me away, he just kept holding me in his arms.

Eventually it hit me that Kris was standing in front of me. I pushed myself away and asked the biggest question on my mind.

"K-Kris? What are you doing back here?"

"Looking for you, silly!" his smile was on his face. His incredible, wonderful smile.

I didn't want to know how much I was blushing, but I felt a lot of heat rushing to my face.

"For… me?" I repeated. Even if it was Kris, something about those words felt wrong.

"So… what do you want to do?" he asked.

'Anything with you' probably wasn't the right answer. "I was just going to go back to my room, um… you can come in with me."

I led Kris in. There really wasn't much to see in my castle, there were tons of empty rooms because nobody besides me lives here. My room was at the end of one of the halls, and when I opened the door Kris ran in like it was a candy store. He looked at everything, the saplings I had in the corners, my bookshelf full of books, the rug which had a big heart on it. I almost didn't want him to open the side room which I used as a wardrobe, something about the fact that I had a number of cloaks that all looked the same embarrassed me right then. But Kris appeared to be wearing the same shirt and pants as before, the same exact colors even, so maybe it wasn't all that uncommon.

Kris sat on my bed and looked at me expectantly.

"Is… anything wrong, Kris?"

"You're not going to take off your hat?"

I didn't even realize it was still on, I was too focused on Kris. So I took it off and threw it next to the wardrobe door. He somehow looked even happier to see me now that I had my hat off.

"Now what are we going to do?" he asked.

"Um… I have lots of books, feel free to grab one if it catches your interest. Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat…"

He shook his head and went over to the bookcase. It took him a moment, but he eventually picked a book off the shelf, came back over and jumped back onto the bed.

"Oh! The Legend of Mt. Ebott? That's one of my favorites, you have good taste!"

Kris opened to the first page and I leaned into him to read it with him. Everything was so much better now that I had Kris with me again. _I missed you Kris-never leave again..._


	5. Chapter 4 - Imperfect

"Um… Kris? Don't you have to go home soon?"

I was barely keeping track of time, I was only enjoying my time reading with Kris. But now it was late, and surely he needed to go soon.

"I told my mom that I was going to head to a friend's for a sleepover," he said, "...it took some time to convince her, don't kick me out now."

"Kick you out? I'd never do that," the idea was ridiculous to me.

"Good. But uh… I am a bit hungry now. I think I might have to take up your offer for something to eat."

"Oh! Of course, I'll go get something ready. You can keep reading, if you like."

I left my room. My mind began running through a list of things that I could make for Kris. I had promised cake before, maybe I could just make that? But cake is very specific-there's chance he might not even like the type I choose. He didn't ask for anything in particular. Would he like anything I made, regardless of what it was? I know that's how I'd feel if he made something for me. I decided I would bake Kris a cake, despite my worries.

Surely Kris was hungry if he was asking for food, he never did that the last time he was here. When I got to the kitchen, I used a bit of magic to speed up the process. Ingredients began to levitate and zoom over from their places in the pantry or refrigerator and were carefully laid into a bowl. Then came a spoon to mix the batter hastily. Then came a choice, I could use fire magic to get it to a good temperature or I could let the cake bake regularly in the oven. My magic would sometimes burn it, but it'd be ready in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, it would taste better if I let it bake instead of doing it all at once. I chose the latter, Kris deserved the best. Besides, that just meant I had some more time with him.

I put the batter into a pan and the pan into the oven. 350 degrees for a half hour. Then I ran back through the purple halls to my room. Kris was standing at the window, staring out it and into my garden. I think he heard me as I walked in, he turned to face me as I shut the door.

"Ralsei! Did you do all that out there?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, y-yes," it's not like there was anyone here that would help me.

"It's amazing! I could gaze out the window for hours!"

"Thanks, Kris."

I was particularly proud of my garden, all the time I had waiting for Kris and Susie to arrive had to be spent doing something. It started with a few black tulips in the middle, then it grew to make the shape of a heart, similar to the one on my cloak. I started growing a few green tulips around it, and then added some white tulips, and all of a sudden I had a painting of myself made of flowers. But I didn't want to stop there; I made a few more small hearts scattered here and there, then filled in everything with blue and purple. It wasn't even a lot of work, magic made the entire thing easy. But I always thought it to be a nice image, the calm of the blue, the royalty of the purple. The red for love, the green for life, and the black of the Darkners.

Maybe I should make one of Kris, and another of Susie. I might make one of Lancer, even. Then I got an idea, I could make one grand portrait of Kris and myself in the front of the castle instead of the back. Everyone would be able to see it, it was perfect! But doing it while Kris was here might be a bit embarrassing.

"And you did all of it by yourself? I don't know how many humans it would take to perform the same job. You're really amazing, Ralsei!" he complimented.

"Um…" I'm sure I was blushing, at least a little bit. I'm not used to all the positive attention; I'm not used to attention at all.

"Ralsei? You don't have to be modest about things like these. I think you're really, really amazing! And don't let anyone tell you that you're anything else!"

I was definitely blushing by now. If only I could tell you how much I loved you, Kris.

"...I am pretty proud of my garden," I whispered.

He just gave me his grin at that.

"Did you um… like the book?" I asked, trying to kill some time for the cake to finish.

"I sort of knew the legend, or at least a part of it. It's a nice kid's fairy tale in the Light World. But there are multiple versions of it, your version was the good version where the human frees all monster-kind from the Underground. But there's one where the human goes on a murderous rampage and kills everyone they see…" he explained.

"Oh, I never knew about any other versions," I said, "but it does make sense."

"Hmm?"

"I've learned of a theory from all my reading, it basically states that anything that can happen, did in some other universe. So maybe, somewhere far, far away, somewhere we'll never see, maybe a human really did fall into the Underground. And from there, maybe both versions of the tale happened at one point."

"That's really cool!" he exclaimed.

"Well, it's only a theory, there might not be any truth to it at all-"

"-but it could be true all the same right?" Kris seemed to lip something after it, but I couldn't tell what it was.

There was a pause after that. Silence, as we just stared at each other unblinking. I took the time to wonder about Kris' belief in the theory. He seemed to be convinced that it was true, so I started to think about if it was. In that case, there were infinite copies of Kris out there. And not every Kris was the same, each one had some slight difference from the other that eventually would add up to drastic personality changes. So somewhere out there, there was a Kris that acted more like Susie or Lancer, a Kris that hated me, a Kris that would never even meet me. Why did I end up with the Kris that I did? Not that I was complaining, this Kris is perfect.

"Um… I doubt the food is ready, but I probably ought to check on it," I said, breaking the silence.

I left the room and went back to the kitchen. The cake was about half ready, but I didn't want to use magic to finish the job. I also couldn't go back to my room for a moment, not while Kris was still in there. I just needed this moment to myself.

It wasn't that I didn't want to go back to Kris. But standing next to Kris was hard for me, especially while plenty of thoughts raced through my head. My heart would begin to race, I'd tense up a little bit. He'd make some quip and reduce me to a blushing mess. I loved him, I really did. But this is only the second time I've ever been with him, there was no way he felt the same way. Or at least, not as strongly as I felt them. He at least did like me as a friend, I think. Maybe, just maybe, if the time was right, I might just say something about it.

I heard footsteps. I was standing still, and nobody else would dare to come into the castle, all of a sudden Kris was standing in the doorway. I quickly had to push out any remnants of my time alone, they couldn't be exposed to Kris.

"You're baking me a cake?" he asked.

"Um… yes. I hope that's okay."

"It smells amazing, I'm sure it'll be great!"

Then I began to wonder if maybe Kris did like me. He was different, he didn't criticize my look or my personality, I don't know that he had any problems with me to tell the truth.

"...Kris, what do you think of me?" I managed to get out.

"Haven't you asked me this before," he came over to look me directly in the eye, "Ralsei, are you okay?"

"I'm just not used to not being hated," the dam burst and I released so much built up emotion, "I mean honestly, look at this giant castle! Yet I'm the only one that lives here… Half the rooms don't have anything in them because there's no need for all of them, Kris! I've never been loved by anybody, not to any degree! I didn't even get to know my parents that much, Kris…"

"Ralsei, I-"

"I'm sorry, Kris… I didn't mean to go off like that."

Kris hugged me tightly. I think he was trying to tell me something without having to use words, and if so, he definitely got the message across. I'm glad… I finally had a somebody.

"Ralsei, I understand-at least a little bit. In the Light World, I live in a town with only monsters. Being the only human there, I'm the creepy kid that sits in the back, that nobody ever dares to talk to. At least now I have some relationship with Susie, so it's not entirely terrible anymore, but… I came back here for a reason, Ralsei. I came because I wanted to be with you, because you actually like me."

I wanted to say that like isn't the proper term, but then the oven dinged to signal that the cake was done.

"Now let's be the friends that we are, okay? I'm here for you and you're here for me, and that's the honest truth to it," he concluded.

I pulled out the cake, asked if he wanted any frosting or anything put on it, and he shook his head. Plain chocolate cake it is then. I took a knife and cut a nicely sized slice for him. I took a small slice compared to his. Suddenly, I wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.

"If that's all you're going to have then it's all I'll have, too," he said, cutting his slice down to a size resembling mine.

"Kris, you're hungry. Please eat."

"Ralsei, are you sure you're okay? Please, talk to me."

"I'm fine, I promise," it was a lie and I knew Kris would see right through it, "I just… I'm not very hungry myself, okay? I usually eat later."

"Okay, I trust you," he began eating his original slice.

We ate in silence. I had a lot to think about and I'm sure he had plenty on his mind as well. I think I owed Kris another apology, I kind of exploded and then I was getting him all worried and… I was ruining everything, like usual. Kris was too good for this.

Neither of us finished very quickly. I ate slow because I didn't want to eat, Kris ate at a decent pace but just had more than I did. I took the plates and put them to the side to be washed later. Kris just stared at me the entire time like he wanted to say something.

"Hey, Ralsei," he finally spoke up.

"Yes, Kris?"

"You haven't been having a lot of fun while I've been here, have you?"

I hated myself in that moment. I've been so terrible that now even Kris was doubting himself.

"Kris, you know that isn't true…"

"But this just seems to be annoying you. If you want me to leave, I can."

"Please stay, this is all my fault…"

"Can I ask something? Why do you always blame yourself?"

"Because I am imperfect," I said.


	6. Chapter 5 - Too Soon

That was it. In one single statement, I told Kris exactly how I felt about myself. And it was the truth, the absolute truth. I never got a chance to get close to my parents, they both disappeared when I was very young, but I always remembered my dad telling me to be the best for everyone else. There was no "I," there was only a "them," and I was not supposed to put myself above them. So I didn't. I'd always blame myself for everything, I never thought I was good enough. Making friends was an impossible task because nobody wanted to call "The Pathetic Prince" (because that was my nickname to some) their friend.

Kris took a step back when he heard me utter the word imperfect. He glared at me in a way that showed so much hatred for that word.

"Ralsei," he wrapped me in a hug and began whispering in my ear, "I am yet to meet anybody that comes so close to perfection as you do. What you're doing now is imperfect-if you were just to smile and be happy you'd be too perfect."

"K-Kris?"

"Shh…" I think he noticed how close to tears I was, because he didn't break the hug and was actually bringing me in closer.

"...Thank you," I said, then pressed my face into his shoulder to cry for a bit.

I had finished crying, I had gone to the bathroom to clean myself up, and then I headed back to my room with Kris. A lot had happened in one day, and luckily it was starting to get around the time to go to sleep; I was absolutely exhausted.

"Um… this is the only room that has a bed…"

Kris said nothing to it.

"I can sleep on the rug or…"

"No more of that. You deserve good too, you get to sleep on the bed."

"But where will you-"

"Who said I wasn't also going to sleep on the bed?"

A part of me wanted nothing more than what he just suggested, but a part of me still didn't think I deserved that after all I had done today. I was definitely going to try again tomorrow, and hopefully I would make myself better. I had to, it was for Kris.

"Don't worry about a thing," he said, "sometimes my brother and I would sleep together because one of us got a nightmare or maybe it was just really cold that night. This isn't unusual, not for me at least."

"I guess if you're okay with it…"

"Are you okay with it Ralsei?"

Yes. A million times yes. My bed wasn't even that big, I'd have to sleep on top of him or he'd have to sleep on top of me if he really intended on us both fitting.

"It's fine!" I added on a smile to be convincing.

"There you go, that's the Ralsei I like to see!" he smiled back.

So we both got into the bed together. He was ever-so-slightly bigger than me, so he got on first. I had no idea what position to get in, so he helped me find a position comfortable for the both of us. I literally was lying flat on him, our feet touching at the end of the bed all the way up to our faces. This was the closest we've ever been, I probably started blushing at the realization. I doubted he wanted my fur to be all over him, so I may have nuzzled him a bit as I put my head closer toward his neck than his face.

I could easily feel his heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest with each breath. He seemed to be much calmer about this than I was. I steadily tried to slow my own breathing to not be as flustered, but I don't know how well it worked.

"Comfy?" he asked.

"Very…" I said.

I raised a hand for a moment to use some magic. I always would light my castle using candles. It wasn't very modern or anything, but I liked them because it allowed me to turn any and every light on and off at will. Just then I used my magic to stop the flames of each candle, and darkness fell over every room. I could barely see Kris, but his warmth hadn't moved at all.

"I suppose we could maybe stay up a bit longer if you're not tired…" I said.

"It's fine, I think I'll get to sleep just fine."

"Okay then, goodnight Kris."

"Goodnight Ralsei."

He wrapped a hand around me and I let myself melt into his warmth.

It was funny that he mentioned that his brother and him would sometimes sleep together to chase away nightmares. I'd often have nightmares of my own, but that night was definitely the most pleasant sleep I had ever gotten.

Of course though, me being used to the time cycle of the Dark World, I woke up before Kris. He looked so peaceful though, I got off of him slowly and carefully so that I didn't wake him up. Then I waved a hand, the castle got brighter-except this room. I dimly lit each candle individually. I was about to go and start preparing breakfast so that Kris could have something to eat when he wakes up, but as I was leaving I heard a noise behind me.

"...sei…" I turned around.

"...alsei…" I wasn't just hearing something, was I?

"...Ralsei…" Kris said my name just then, didn't he?

"...I love… you…"

I ran out of the room and closed the door behind me. I didn't slam it, but everything happened incredibly fast. Kris was just talking in his sleep, and I heard it. He said my name and then… that. 'I love you.' Was that it? Was it true? I couldn't bring myself to ask, not yet.

From within the room I heard a bit of shuffling, indicating that he was getting up. I gave myself an internal pep-talk to just go in there and everything would be fine. So I stepped in, and there he was, awake.

"Good morning, Kris!"

"There you are. Good morning Ralsei!"

"Sorry, I got up a moment before you did. I was going to go make breakfast, but you woke up right after I exited the room," I laughed.

"Oh! Well that's okay, I don't usually eat breakfast anyway," he paused, "my mother is probably worried enough as is that I spent a night away, I was thinking I would be heading out early."

"Oh… okay," I had to be happy, I forced a smile, "then let's get ready!"

I showed him to the bathroom and told him he could use whatever he needed. I went to the kitchen. Despite last night's tension, he did seem to like the cake, so I cut off a big slice and packed it away in a bag so that he could take it with him. I went back to my room, put on another cloak and my hat. Then he was done in the bathroom and I went in to brush my fur down a little bit, and after that we were ready.

Through a few purple halls and down a few steps and there was the front entrance to my castle. Then a bit further and we were in the empty town, even further and we were in the Field. We cut through the field easily, there weren't many awake yet and even if they were they probably wouldn't attack us for any reason. We came across the door that would let us cut the journey down a bit, and we took it directly to the Card Castle.

Luckily Lancer's guards seemed to be awake, and upon seeing us granted us entry immediately. As far as I knew, this was the only way to get Kris back to the Light World, at least in this part of the Dark World. Maybe later I could show him more of the Dark World than what he's seen. But we entered Lancer's castle, and rode the elevator up and took the few flights of steps.

Lancer was in the throne room. I was surprised to see him already awake, but he was the King now so it made a lot of sense. He would be a good king if he could make so many changes in so little time, all of them being as good as they were. He excitedly greeted Kris and I, but when we told him we were in a hurry he just nodded and let us go up.

And then we were on the roof, where we had once fought the old King. It seemed like a while ago, to be completely honest. But that's only because of how much has changed since then, mostly due to a lot of Lancer's new policies and all. It seemed like this part of the Dark World had a good future.

We headed over to where the fountain once stood. If we didn't know any better, we never would have assumed that one had been there in the first place. That was good, that meant the balance between the worlds was stable. But if it were trying to come back, Kris easily could stop it just like he did the first time. His soul seemed to resonate with the area, and a light began to flash in the middle of where the fountain used to be. That was his way out.

"This is goodbye, isn't it?" I asked.

"Seems like it. I'm sorry, Ralsei, I'll try to come back as soon as possible," he promised.

It did make me happy to see how much he did care about me.

"Next time, maybe bring Susie! I'm sure Lancer would love to see her again, and I'll admit I kind of want to see her again too," I smiled.

"It was hard enough getting myself here, but I'll see what I can do," he smiled back.

I could tell he was trying hard not to show any sadness. He wanted me to be happy, too.

"Ralsei?"

"Yes Kris?"

"Are you feeling better now? From yesterday, I mean."

"I feel wonderful," it was a half-truth. True in the sense that I did feel a lot better, a lie in the sense that I wasn't ready to see Kris off.

"And… Ralsei?"

"Yes?"

"You believe a lot in being kind to other people, right?"

"Of course! It always pays to be nice to people."

"Then be kind to yourself, too. Can you do that for me?"

"I will try, Kris."

"You won't try. You will."

"I will, Kris," that got him to smile.

We stood there for a moment, nothing but silence between us.

"If that's all there is to say, Ralsei-"

"Um… Wait, I do have something for you," I almost forgot about the cake I packed for him, "here you go!"

"Oh wow, thanks Ralsei! To tell the truth, I have a gift for you, too."

"Kris?"

He reached out for the light with one hand and grabbed my hand with the other. I heard him yell something, I think I heard him say that it was too soon for goodbye. But everything turned incredibly bright, I closed my eyes and brought my hat down a bit to help cover them up. I couldn't tell what was happening, it felt like I was moving despite having not taken a step in any direction. The bright light had enveloped everything, and from there I was floating in… somewhere. I didn't know where I was, I lost Kris, and all of a sudden everything seemed to hit me, and it was too much.


	7. Chapter 6 - Wish

I found myself in the strangest place. Things were littered about and scattered all over the floor, things like papers and what appeared to be board games. There were shelves in all four corners of the rooms, full of a random collection of items that I didn't feel to identify all of. And the walls and floor were white! There wasn't any black or blue or purple anywhere in this room!

I remember Kris and I were in the Dark World, he was about to leave and then… When he reached out for the light he grabbed my hand and dragged me with! That must mean this is the Light World! But Kris wasn't in the room with me, and I had no idea where he was. I was all alone again, but now in a world that was totally foreign to me.

But then one of the two doors to this room opened up, and a figure stepped in-Kris. I was so relieved to see him, I was not ready to be here yet and certainly not left here on my own. It was odd to see him without his armor on though, he wore a simple green shirt with a yellow stripe across and brown pants. I still had everything I was already wearing, so that was nice. Half of what I had on was a gift from Kris, the white ribbon and the rune bracelet were special to me. He said I looked cute in them too.

"Hey Ralsei," he said plainly.

I didn't really know what to say, but I turned to face him so he knew I was listening.

"This is the backroom in my school, welcome to the Light World!" he smiled.

"So I really am in the Light World?"

"You always wanted to come here didn't you? Well, now you're here!"

"Kris, you didn't have to do this…"

Kris actually took me to the Light World. What he said was true, I have always wanted to see what the Light World looked like with my own eyes. There were a number of books which described it but there's nothing that'll ever compare to actually seeing it for yourself.

"Well of course I did! I wanted you to be happy."

I ran up to Kris and hugged him. Tears were forming in my eyes, but they were happy tears. Kris really did this for me-he actually liked me. Kris was laughing the entire time, if he wanted to see me happy, I gave him the chance to see me overjoyed.

"This isn't anything compared to what we can see, come on!" he waved for me to follow, and I ran after him out of the room.

The school wasn't very large, only about the same size as one of the floors of one of the castles in the Dark World. He said there wasn't much anything to see here, so we quickly exited through the front door. He stopped, but I took another few steps forward-what I saw was absolutely breathtaking.

The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, and with it hung what I assumed was the sun from my understanding of the books. White puffs of clouds dotted the sky in random fashion. All around us were trees, but not like the ones in the Dark World, these ones were green and yellow and red and orange. Kris said it was because Autumn was on its way, and that the Light World starts to get cold during these months. But it still felt pleasantly warm to me, likely due to the lack of a sun in the Dark World.

"So how do you like the Light World so far?"

"I love it!" I exclaimed.

Kris only smiled at that. I almost wanted to take off my hat then and there and bask in the sun for a bit, but Kris grabbed my hand and dragged me somewhere different. All along the way I noticed tons of different buildings and a variety of people standing outside attending whatever it was they were. Everything in the Light World was so colorful though, some buildings were red and others were blue and some were white or had some kind of pattern to them, and none were exactly the same size or shape as the other.

When we stopped moving, Kris just pointed outward. I looked beyond his finger and saw another marvelous sight. Water stretched in front of me, glittering in the light and clear as a crystal. Leaves dotted the water a bit, but that only added to its beauty.

"I always like to come here," he said, "it's prettier at night though."

"Prettier at night? You mean it gets even better?"

Kris laughed, took my hand again, and off we were. This time the trip wasn't nearly as long, we simply crossed the road and were at a house tucked away in the corner of the town. It was very plain on the outside, having white walls and a few yellow windows here and there, but that didn't make it bad. Sometimes I wish I had a house like this one, a large castle like what I have is much too big for what I have.

"Wait here, okay?" Kris instructed, I nodded in return.

He ran up to the front steps and knocked on the door a few times before heading inside. I waited patiently, wondering what he possibly could've been doing, but then he came back outside and motioned for me to come over.

"My home isn't anything like yours, but here we are!" he exclaimed.

"Oh? Is this the friend you've been telling me so much about, Kris?" someone asked.

I looked at who had said it. She appeared to be a goat-monster similar to myself, except she was a Lightner obviously. She was nearly twice my height, didn't wear glasses, and had smaller horns. But she wore a dress almost like my own, except it was a mix of blue and purple and a bit less ragged.

"This is him! Ralsei, this is my mom; mom this is Ralsei."

"Your mom?" I asked.

"Oh, not entirely. I only adopted Kris when I found him at a young age."

That made more sense.

"Well, it's nice to meet you! Kris, why don't you go make sure your room is ready for the guest."

Kris looked at his mother questionably, but obliged and ran upstairs. When his mother was sure he was out of ear's range, she came over to me and kneeled to look me right in the eye.

"...Ralsei," she said, "Kris is rather… fond of you. I have no problem with anything like that, but do promise me one thing."

"That is?"

"Take care of him, please. He's growing up, and I cannot always be there. I will place my trust in you to do that," she smiled softly, and gave a tender, motherly look.

I couldn't disagree to a request like that. I swore to it, I always wanted to be there for Kris, regardless of what she had just said. And if I understood her properly, maybe Kris really did love me and didn't just say something in a drunken state of sleep.

"And one more thing, dear. Please take off the hat while you're inside, I will make sure it does not get lost."

It was understandable. I don't typically wear the hat everywhere I go, but I do wear it when in the presence of strangers. I have to hide myself, maybe then I won't be hated as much. But I took off my hat, and she looked shocked for a moment, but it quickly turned to a smile.

"You look quite like my boy," she said as she took my hat, "and now that I think of it your name is similar as well…"

I looked at her odd.

"But don't mind any of that! I'm sorry, it just brought back a memory."

Kris was still upstairs. With nothing better to do for the moment, I started looking around the house. We were in the main room now, which led directly into the kitchen and then to a door and the stairs up to the second floor. It was certainly small, but it was homey. There were two chairs in the main room, Kris' mother had taken a seat at one of them, a lamp behind each chair, a red, patterned rug spread across the floor, and opposite to the chairs was a TV on top of a small table. The kitchen only had the microwave and oven, along with a table and a few white cabinets.

Then Kris came back downstairs and jumped over to his mom.

"Everything's all cleaned for tonight, mom! Does that mean he can stay over? Please!" he begged.

"Is it okay with your parents, Ralsei?"

"Um… I live," I was half-stuttering it out, "...on my own."

"On your own? And at such a young age!" Kris' mom exclaimed.

I couldn't say anything. I didn't like thinking about how my parents disappeared so long ago. I often wished I had a good relationship with a parental figure, but I've gotten along well enough on my own for so long now that maybe it would be a hindrance. Or maybe not, I'm not entirely sure.

"I apologize, Ralsei. I had no idea," Kris' mom said.

"It's okay-I can't hold you against something you didn't know."

"Well then! If you ever need anything, I'm certain Kris and I would be more than happy to help, right my child?"

Kris nodded enthusiastically. This is why I like Lightners, they lived up to everything my books always said about them. They cared about others.

"And Kris… I suppose that means Ralsei may stay over whenever he wants. But in return do be on your best behavior! Now run along children, and if you head out try not to come back too late."

I found it funny that Kris' mom made a comment about Kris being on his best behavior. I didn't see any problems with him, at least not yet. But again I was dragged out of my own thoughts, being taken by Kris again. It felt like I was leaving everywhere right as I got there, but I was with Kris the entire time, so it wasn't too big of an issue.

"I'm going to take you to the library! There's tons of books and stories there!" he yelled as we were running.

I do remember seeing a library on our way here. I was actually going to ask him if we could go, but he apparently already planned for it. It made me happy that Kris knows I love reading so much. The library greeted me with an uncountable number of books, all stacked up on shelves a few times taller than myself. I silently pledged to myself that I'd get all of them read someday.

"Well, we have a few hours," Kris whispered over.

"Do you recommend anything?"

"There's a lot of nice tales and myths upstairs, but they usually aren't more than a few hundred pages in length. There's a lot to read, go nuts!"

I immediately went upstairs. Stories like the one about Mt. Ebott were my favorites, and I instantly found a few copies of them when I started looking for something to read. Kris was right about there being multiple versions of the story, from what I saw there were three versions of the story with the major differences being toward the end. But I wasn't interested in reading that one again, and from what Kris said, I probably wouldn't like the other ones as much.

To my surprise though, I found a book that seemed to talk about a world on the opposite of the Light World. It was only seventy-five pages, so I made quick work of it. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be talking about the Dark World exactly, or if it was it was mostly full of lies. It depicted the characters as heartless brutes that fought all the time with each other.

I looked over at Kris after I was done, who was sitting across from me at the table. He had a slightly disinterested look on his face.

"Kris? Do you maybe want to go somewhere else?"

"No, it's fine. There's not a lot to do in this town, this probably is one of the better things to do," he said, "and I'm happy if you are."

Hearing that made my heart jump a bit. But I still worried about Kris, I wanted him to have fun as well.

"Do you want to choose out a book?" I silently asked.

"There's one I probably should read, but I don't know if you'd like it."

"It's okay."

It was not okay, not at all. Next thing I knew I was downstairs reading a book detailing all the long and gruesome wars humans waged against each other. Learning about all the unnecessary violence and bloodshed and death made me uncomfortable. Kris needed to read it for his school apparently. But he didn't seem to like it very much either. All the humans in this book couldn't hold a candle up to how good of a person Kris was.

The book was very long, which made it even worse. But it took the rest of the time we had for Kris to take in all the details of the book, so we headed out after Kris put it back.

"Sorry that the trip wasn't exactly the best…" he said as we were walking to his house.

"If I want to read every book there, I'll have to get through the good, the bad, and the terrible. I think it's good that I got through two of the terrible today, that means next time will have to be better!"

"That's a good way to think about it," he laughed.

As we entered his house I immediately picked up the smell of food. His mother was in the kitchen, making what looked to be a mix of vegetables along with rice. A simple but healthy meal, very much like one I'd make if I didn't felt like really doing a whole lot.

"Oh! Good timing children, I'm almost finished. I didn't know what to make for Ralsei so I hope this will be sufficient," his mother said when she noticed us.

"I'm not very picky. It smells wonderful," I said.

"Kris, why don't you go upstairs with Ralsei for a moment? I'll call for you both when I finish."

Kris nodded, and I followed after him as he went upstairs. He led me into his room, which to me was very peculiar. One side was full of posters and awards along with a TV and a few books. The other side had only a toy cart and an empty bird cage on it. Both sides had a bed and a wardrobe of their own.

"...I'm not at home often, so why should I put a lot of things there?" he said.

"I understand that."

"The other side used to belong to my brother before he went off to university. We just haven't moved his stuff yet, I don't know that my mom really wants to."

"Oh."

"Well, we can share this room. He won't be back for a while so I guess you can use his bed in the meantime," he said flatly.

I noticed my hat was resting on his bed. I was tempted to grab it and put it on, but I remembered that Kris' mom asked me not to have it on inside the house. For a while I forgot that I had it off, so I'm sure now a ton of others know what I really look like; putting the hat on probably wouldn't be too necessary.

Kris went over to the window and opened the blinds. He shook his head as he looked out, visibly murmuring something to himself.

"Is something the matter, Kris?"

"Just one more surprise for you, it's not ready yet though," he sighed.

"You've spoiled me today, do not fret not being able to give me anything else."

"But I think this one is the best one! Better than the library by far."

"Children! Dinner is ready!" Kris' mom called from downstairs.

We both went down and ate at the table, Kris must've been hungry because he scarfed his food down. Being the first done, he excused himself from the table and went back up to his room. It was just Kris' mother and myself sitting across the table from one another. A conversation had started in-between bites.

"...so you say Kris really likes me?" I asked.

"Oh yes. A few days ago, he was late coming home from school. But he told me the reason was because he met the most wonderous friend! You must be really special, Kris usually keeps to himself."

I'm sure a faint blush had appeared on my face from that.

"Good that we see eye-to-eye," I lied, "he also is a really great friend."

"You know, ever since my son moved out, he has been incredibly lonely. I don't think I've ever seen such a big smile on his face as when he came home that day."

By now the both of us had finished. She got up from the table and took my plate, I thanked her and went to go upstairs to meet Kris. But right when I reached his door, he burst out from the room and just nodded to me, before running downstairs. I chased after him, having no idea what was happening. By time I got downstairs all I saw was Kris' mom laughing and she nodded to Kris, who turned excitedly to face me.

"Okay, I'm going to cover your eyes and take you to the last surprise!" he exclaimed.

"W-what? Why cover my eyes?"

"Because it'll ruin the surprise if you can see it, silly!" he said, walking behind me and placing his hands just over my glasses.

"Kris, I don't like this…"

"You trust me, don't you? Just follow my directions, it'll be fine."

"...okay," I eventually said.

"Okay turn left just a bit, then we're going to go forward until we reach the door. I'll tell you when to stop."

I did as instructed.

"Stop!" he yelled.

He opened the door, then swiftly covered my eyes back up so I couldn't see out.

"Okay, forward, be ready for a few steps down. Just keep going forward and I'll help you turn."

I was taking nervous steps at first, especially due to the idea of going down steps blindly, but eventually I was actually starting to get the hang of it. Luckily for me Kris yelled stop again after only a short distance, and then he uncovered my eyes.

We were back at the lake from earlier, but it was a much different scene. Rather than the sky being blue like it was earlier, it was now black like in the Dark World. But unlike the Dark World, this black sky was dotted with countless shining dots and still had a faint amount of blue strewn across it. The lake water was incredibly still, stretching out to the forest behind it. Dancing across the water were a thousand tiny lights, like little embers of fire.

"Surprise!" Kris yelled.

I could only look on in awe. The Light World was incredibly beautiful, such a radical change from the Dark World. Kris was right, seeing this view was so much better than going to the library.

"When it's warm outside, all these little fireflies will come out and light up the forest. And at night, the sun goes away to reveal all the pretty stars in the sky! I'm glad I got to share this with you."

Kris sat down and put his feet out just before the water. I did the same, but I leaned into him.

"Oh! What's that, Kris?"

I was pointing up at the sky, there was one of the stars but it looked to be moving across the sky.

"That's a shooting star, Ralsei! They're incredibly rare-this is the first one I've seen myself even!"

"It's really pretty…"

"Many people make a wish when they see a shooting star, and it's said to come true, but you can't tell anyone! Want to see if it's true?"

I closed my eyes and made my wish. For Kris and I to stay together forever.


	8. Chapter 7 - From Now On

We stayed there for a while, Kris and I looking up at the stars. Kris pointed out a few constellations in the sky, one of which was the shape of a heart. The beauty of the Light World was too incredible. But as we were talking and laughing Kris said something that caught me completely off-guard.

"If only these stars were as bright as you…"

He mumbled it under his breath, but I still heard it. I didn't think he'd like it if I brought it up so I just let it be, though my heart was racing laps. For a moment I thought I'd use magic to make the scene even prettier, but then I realized I didn't know how. It was perfect as it was.

Eventually though it was late, and time to go back inside. With a certain amount of reluctance I went with Kris, but he promised that this kind of view came out every night, so that made everything better.

Kris' mom welcomed us back into the house, taking Kris aside for a moment. I decided I'd go ahead upstairs on my own and try to get some sleep. It had been a long day, an amazing day but a long one nonetheless. I took off my scarf and my boots and threw them next to the bed. Despite my tiredness I waited for Kris to come up as well, choosing to stargaze a bit more out his window.

Eventually I heard the door open, and I turned around to see Kris standing in the doorframe. He just gave a tired nod, and that told me it was time to go to sleep. We both climbed in our respective beds, and I gently let my eyes close for the night.

"...Hey, Ralsei," Kris whispered over, "we'll enjoy every day like this from now on, right?"

"Of course!" It was almost a dumb question in my mind; I loved my time with Kris and I'd never turn it down.

"Good…" he said.

I drifted off into sleep after that, sad that the day was over but happy that all that had happened did. I went to the Light World with Kris and got to see all its beauty. And Kris seemed to really like me, so that was a plus.

It was only an hour later when I woke up to something tugging on my ear. It didn't hurt but it certainly got me awake.

"...Huh?" I groggily said.

"Sorry…" Kris' whispered, "I had a nightmare… do you think we could sleep together for the rest of the night?"

I moved over a little bit, this bed having enough room for the both of us to fit in. But that didn't stop Kris from sidling up as close to me as possible and wrapping his arm around me and squeezing me in for a hug.

"Thank you…" he said.

"Do you… maybe need to talk about it?"

But Kris was already snoozing away, so I decided I would ask him about it in the morning when I could. I got to sleep just as quickly as he did, and I let myself snuggle into him to ensure I would help chase away all his bad dreams.

When morning rolled around I realized I was the only one in the bed, and Kris was nowhere to be found. I had little to do in the room, and the only bathroom was downstairs so I shook the sleep out of my eyes and got out of bed. But then for a moment my eye caught glance of the sun pouring in from outside the window, and I stared out for a few seconds. The Light World is just as beautiful as it had been.

"Oh, morning Ralsei!" Kris said behind me.

"Good morning Kris," I replied.

"...Thank for last night. It's not often I get nightmares anymore, but that one just happened to creep up on me."

"I was actually going to ask, do you want to talk about it?"

Kris made a face of slight disgust, and I took it as a no, but then he opened his mouth to speak.

"I was alone, and it was cold and dark and I couldn't tell what was happening. But as I called out in the darkness, I realized I was far, far from any help. Far from you."

"Kris," I walked over to him, grabbing his hands with mine, "that'll never happen. Not while I have the power to do anything about it."

He didn't seem too convinced, so I decided I'd try something else. He liked it when I sang, giving me the order to sing my lullabies often when we were in the Dark World. So I sang to him a song that I don't remember how I came to know, but a song that would hopefully get the point across.

"Don't forget… I'm with you in the dark." I sang, concluding the song.

Kris hugged me after I finished my singing.

"Your voice is so amazing," he complimented, "everything about you is so amazing…"

"Kris it is too early for this," I said, feeling the heat rise up in my face.

"Not my fault that you always look so adorable," he pouted.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment, Kris looking away and me trying to hide any embarrassment that may have crept up.

"Anyways… breakfast is ready," he said, "come on!"

We went downstairs and there was a nice assortment of food ready for us, eggs and pancakes and bacon all filled the room with their fresh scent, and all of a sudden I felt like I could eat all of it if I really wanted to. But of course, manners first, I took a plate and put only a few things on it and then took the seat next to Kris. We all kind of ate in silence, only starting to talk after we were done with the first plate.

"...Are you going to be okay with saying goodbye, my child?" his mother suddenly asked.

It confused me, so I looked over to Kris who looked really upset all of a sudden.

"Not particularly," he answered.

"Then you've considered what I was asking about last night?"

"Yes, but in the end, that's not my choice to make."

"How polite. You've grown well, my child."

"Um… what's happening?" I asked, still not having an inkling of what was going on.

"Kris you didn't tell him?" his mom asked.

Kris shook his head, "I'm sorry, it was late and we were tired."

"Okay-Ralsei. Kris has school tomorrow, and that means you'll have to go home until next weekend when Kris has free time."

Suddenly I understood why Kris was upset. I didn't like those words, not one bit.

"But I had an idea. Kris has been rather lonely without his brother, and since you don't have a family back at wherever you're from Ralsei… would you perhaps like to come stay with us?"

I looked at Kris for a moment. His expression in a way told me exactly how to answer that question; he looked like he would've begged me to say yes. But even without that, I would've undeniably said yes anyway. Live with Kris-get to be with him everyday? I'd never turn that offer down. It's not like the Dark World really needed me anyway, they had a great prince-or King rather-Lancer.

I gave a slow but resolute nod.

Next thing I knew I was on the floor, having been tackled by Kris into the biggest hug he'd given me yet.

"That settles it then, nobody is against the idea. Will you need help moving things? Or do you perhaps need a ride?" she asked. "...my child," she added on after a quick moment's passing.

Kris and I shook our heads. Kris told me how he got to the Dark World in the first place, so I knew it wouldn't be too hard to get there and back. And even if it were, I could use magic to make everything easier.

"Do be careful then."

We had gone back upstairs to get ready to head out; I slipped on my boots and grabbed my hat and Kris looked ready to burst with excitement since he already had dashed back downstairs by time I was half ready. The sigh I gave quickly turned into a laugh-it was nice to see Kris this happy about something.

Kris was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps and quickly took hold of my hand and suddenly we were outside and headed toward the school.

"Um… Kris? You maybe want to slow down a bit?" I said, trying to keep up.

"Sorry, I'm just really excited."

"I am too but we've got plenty of time."

"Only every day from now on, right?" he asked.

"Every single day," I answered.

Those words had been repeating in my mind ever since the question was first asked. I really would get the chance to spend every day with Kris. Maybe my wish really would be coming true…

"So what does this make us? Are we brothers now?"

"We don't have to be, it's not exactly an adoption unless you want to think of it like that."

"What are you going to think of it as?" I asked.

"I'm going to get to see the bestest friend I could ever hope to have more often and I won't be lonely anymore," he said, "I think that's what I see it as. What about you?"

"More or less the same-especially that part about not being lonely."

We shared a smile as we reached the school. I had to wonder if what Kris was doing was okay or not, but he seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

"My mother is a teacher here, so I'm allowed in here sort of whenever."

"Oh."

He led me through a short hallway to a big set of blue doors. I thought it was kind of ridiculous that this, of all the places, is the link between two worlds. And at first I was actually kind of skeptical-that was until we stepped in. A grand amount of darkness took over what should've been just a normal closet, and all of a sudden we were falling from a great height.

I used my magic to help us, gently letting us glide down until we came to the ground. Sure enough, it was the Dark World; the cliffs outside of my castle. I let Kris lead just like he always would, and we reached the castle with no obstructions. It's not like anybody was ever here, there wasn't really anything to see or do.

When we headed into the castle there were only a few things I really needed to grab. Or rather, let my magic take-I just warped a lot of it away. Of course there were my robes which needed to go, and I sent a few of my favorite books over, then I sent a few toiletries, namely my brush.

"Anything in particular you'd like to take, Kris?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, then I just need one more thing."

I went out to my garden, grabbing at least one of each different colored tulip. These I didn't use my magic on, I kept them to present myself. I had to do something to show some appreciation to Kris' mom.

"Do you think she'll like them?" I asked Kris.

"Maybe. Sometimes she doesn't really like gifts of flowers."

"Oh?"

"...My dad is a gardener. Mom doesn't like dad very much," he said plainly.

I didn't have a response. But he wasn't mad at me, and we quickly picked up some idle chit-chat as we were heading back to the Light World. The trip felt short-maybe because we took the short route-but it was like I wouldn't miss this place at all. Maybe I was ready to give up the Dark World, there wasn't anything here for me. But this was where I had lived my whole life, how could I be so okay with that?

Kris. Because Kris was with me and I was with Kris. I'm at home when I'm with Kris, and nowhere else. With that in mind, this place was never home. Just a place I lived at until now.

Kris seemed to enjoy the journey back though, waving to the few familiar faces he saw. We definitely made sure to talk to King Lancer as we were heading through the Card Castle, it only felt right. It was nice to see him again, even if the first thing he did was poke a bit of fun at Kris and I because I was holding flowers and Kris and I were smiling.

Don't get me wrong, I love him but…

Then Kris used the power of his soul on where the Dark Fountain had been, and we were back in the school. With nothing left to do, we headed back home. I remembered I had to take off my hat and so I did, and Kris as always seemed especially happy to see my true face. His mom was sitting idly on one of the chairs reading a book, and I just gave her the flowers then.

"These aren't from _him_ are they?" she scowled.

"No, mom! Ralsei grew these himself," Kris said.

She brought the flowers up to her face and smelled them, as if testing whether or not Kris had been telling the truth.

"They do smell a bit better than his do," she said, a smile coming to her face, "they're lovely! Thank you, children."

"It's the least I could do. You're giving me the chance to see Kris every day from now on-my gift doesn't even compare to that level of kindness," I said.

"It is only midday. You both are free to do what you please until dinner, but be safe!"

Neither of us really knew how to spend our time. After all, we did have a lot of it.

"Want to go say hi to Susie? I'm sure she'd be surprised," he suggested.

"I think it'd be funnier if she stepped into class tomorrow and I was suddenly sitting there."

"Oh, that's true," he laughed at the idea, "but that's assuming she actually goes to school tomorrow."

"Does she not go to school?"

"She skips a lot. She's been a lot better about it, but she still complains a lot about it. You know how she is."

I laughed. My time in the Light World was already amazing and I'm sure it would only get better. After all, I had Kris to be with from now on. And that was something I was overjoyed at.


	9. Chapter 8 - School

Nothing of much importance happened for the rest of the day. I took the time to get used to the new house, which despite being significantly smaller than the castle, was much more homely. Other than that, Kris and I spent the day reading more stories at the library. There wasn't any way these ones could be worse than the ones we read yesterday, but they weren't exactly memorable either. It was slightly disappointing, but Kris reminded me of my own words-get through the bad now and there'll be plenty of good later.

And I thought it was funny, I had gotten through my life in the Dark World for a new one in the Light World. A lonely life to one with Kris.

But the day passed by fairly quickly, and because school was tomorrow and I'd have to get registered, Kris' mom sent us to bed a bit early. For a few brief moments where we still had energy, we looked out the window together at the stars.

"Hey Ralsei…" Kris said in a shy voice.

"Yes, Kris?"

"Do you mind if I sleep with you again tonight?" he asked.

"Is this going to be something we do every night?"

"It's okay if you don't want to," he paused, "it's just… I was so comfortable, and you were so warm and soft, and then I didn't have the nightmare again and…"

If ever there was a time where I was the one to fluster Kris, this had been it. I grabbed him in a hug and put both of us up on his bed and nuzzled him, all the while Kris looked redder than some of the best flowers I had grown.

"I'm not going to tell you no, Kris. Especially not when you're acting like that," I said.

Kris was speechless. Unfortunately, before I could really enjoy what I had just done, I fell asleep.

It's not too often I have really amazing dreams, but the one I had that night was one I will keep in my heart forever.

It didn't seem to be far into the future, and it definitely wasn't the past. It was nighttime, and there were plenty of stars in the sky. Kris and I were standing in front of the lake, both of us slightly silhouetted by the darkness yet glowing in the moonlight. We stood facing each other, eternal smiles plastered upon both of our faces. He took my hands in his, and I started to hum as he lead me through a waltz.

All I could think about the entire time was how happy I was to be with him, and his expression told me he felt all the same. But it wasn't just joy, it was love. Love at its peak, love in its most beautiful, truest form.

Eventually I came to the end of the song I was humming, and the dance ended there. We hugged for a while, then we went in for a quick kiss.

"That was…" I said.

"Amazing," he finished, "love you Ralsei."

"Love you Kris…"

The last thing I saw was us going back to the house, hand in hand.

The next morning I woke up with a slightly cold feeling; that dream ended too soon. But then I was instantly warmed up by the fact that Kris had an arm over me, and he was still looking adorable even in his sleep.

The curtains were open, and light was pouring in from outside. For a moment I almost forgot, I was going to school today with Kris. I shook him a little bit, but he just mumbled and so I had to leave him to get ready. I put on a clean robe and my boots and my glasses, then left to run downstairs.

"Good morning, Ralsei," Kris' mom said, "what seems to be the rush? I'm only just now getting done with breakfast."

"Oh… I didn't know the time and thought I perhaps overslept," I sighed, glad that I wouldn't be late on my first day.

"No, no," she said, "school does not begin for another half hour. And this is a small town, so we still have quite a while before we actually must leave."

"I'll remember that," I laughed.

"Please, come relax," she said with a smile, handing me a plate so I may go get breakfast.

I took only one pancake and some eggs, I never was really hungry in the morning-even if Kris' mom cooks well. I took my normal seat, the one across the table from Kris' mother.

"...is there something going on between you and Kris, Ralsei?" she suddenly asked.

I wasn't ready for that question. I had to quickly swallow to avoid choking on the bite I had taken.

"Um… w-what do you mean?" I asked. I knew exactly what she meant.

"I have told you before, I do not see anything wrong with Kris liking you and you liking Kris. You do not have to be afraid of me."

It took me a while to consider my words, even if I knew exactly what I'd say from the very beginning.

"...I love Kris. I really do. I've never met someone as kind as he is. And I think he's really cute, too. We have a lot in common. But there's nothing more than friendship between us for now. Kris simply asked me to sleep with him, he said he used to do it a lot with his brother to keep nightmares away. I was just being a good friend."

And suddenly Kris was in the kitchen; I didn't even hear him come in. I got so embarrassed that I pulled my ears to cover my face so he couldn't see me. I couldn't tell if my heart had stopped or if it were beating so fast that I couldn't feel each individual beat anymore.

"...How much did you hear of that, Kris?" I managed to get out.

"Huh?" he said sleepily, tilting his head toward me.

"Did you not hear any of the conversation we were having?"

"...I've barely just woken up…"

I gave the greatest sigh of relief I ever had upon those words. His mom just laughed at us both, and we all returned to eating.

"If we're ready, I suppose we can head to school now," Kris' mom said after we put all our plates in the sink.

"I have to get there early, don't I?" I asked.

"Oh, it shouldn't take too long getting you in."

"How much time do we even have left?" Kris asked.

"A quarter of an hour."

"Let's just go then…" he said with a slight hint of annoyance.

We headed out to the van, and Kris and I hopped in the back seat. His mom took an extra moment, so I started talking with Kris.

"Do you not enjoy school? You seem kind of upset."

"I'll tolerate it more with you," he smiled, "it's just kind of… boring."

"Oh."

"Alright children! Are we ready?" Kris' mom said as she got in the driver's seat.

We said yes, and after that the car ride was filled with idle chatter. Comments on the weather and ideas for dinner were tossed around and not much else, the trip was so short nothing else really was allowed.

As we got out of the van, Kris' mom grabbed my hand and started to lead me in. Kris trailed behind with a bit of reluctance, but still put in the effort to keep up. For a moment we all stopped, and Kris' mother bent down to give Kris a hug, then sent him off to class. Then we went further back, passed the double doors which led to the Dark World and into the hall opposite the one the side room was on. There was a door at the end of it which simply read "Principal's Office" on it.

"It's Ms. Toriel, sir," she said after knocking twice.

"Come in!" we heard from the other side of the door.

I realized then that I never actually had even gotten Kris' mom's name, which embarrassed me a little. But as we went in, she waved a hand to the side which told me to sit. A few things were said about how she was registering me for class, and how I'd be fit for instruction from Ms. Alphys, and then there was a bit of paperwork she had to do. I just sat there patiently waiting and looking around. The office was a simple brown color and full of things you could almost expect: a bookcase and a few lamps, a sofa and two regular chairs, a plant in the corner, and a cluttered desk in the middle. Right as I was beginning to take a glance at the principal, Toriel handed me the papers.

"I'm sorry, I could only fill in a few things-please take care of the rest."

She gave me a pen as well, and I started to put in the missing pieces. But I had to think about the fact that I had practically been adopted by a total stranger. Maybe I should've said no, only because we didn't know each other very well. I still could be with Kris that way, maybe just not as often. But the idea of not being with Kris made me think that it was okay that I chose what I did.

I handed back the papers after I was done, and from there we were waved off and I headed to class. When I stepped in there weren't but three others, Kris, someone sitting next to him, and someone I assumed to be Ms. Alphys given that she was standing in the front of the class.

"O-oh, hello," she stuttered out, "Kris said that we'd be having a new student today."

"Hello, ma'am. My name is Ralsei," I said.

"I am Ms. Alphys. Um… you may take any seat you like, I really didn't assign seats."

I was about to take the open seat next to Kris, but he said I should take the one behind him instead.

"We kind of assigned seats ourselves, and this is the only one that's open," he told me.

"Dude! You totally look like Asriel!" the student sitting next to Kris exclaimed.

"Um…"

"He does, but he's so much better than Asriel," Kris said.

"Woah! Better than Asriel? Can you show me magic? Are you really smart? Do you like to…" the questions just poured on and I couldn't keep up.

"Kid, calm down," Kris said.

"Oh, sorry…" he said.

Other students started entering the room, and as they came in Kris listed off names and maybe a brief thing or two about them. Drake, he tries to be funny; Noelle, she's smart and kind; Berdly, he's smart and rude; a few others that Kris said he didn't really know very well.

"Just one missing… and class is about to start," Ms. Alphys said.

As if on cue, the door burst open and in the doorway was Susie. For whatever reason, the rest of the class besides Kris seemed to shrink down.

"For once she's not late!" Berdly shouted.

"Quiet, Bird-Brain," she mocked, "I've been on time a lot."

"O-okay. Let's just be calm and start class," Ms. Alphys said.

Susie appeared to grumble something as she slowly walked over to her seat, which happened to be the one on my left. It took her until she sat down to notice me, and when she did she immediately stood back up in shock.  
"Ralsei?! What?!"

I heard Kris snicker.

"Hi Susie!" I smiled and waved.

"...You know what? Okay. I'm done questioning things ever since then," she said, sitting back down.

Everyone else looked quite confused, except Kris of course, but then Ms. Alphys directed attention to the front of the room.

"Well, our new student needs a group for the project. Is any group willing to-"

"Mine!" Kris shouted.

"Ugh," Susie rolled her eyes, "if I have to work with him…"

Kris gave a glare, but it didn't have anger behind it, then all three of us laughed.

"O-okay. Well today we'll just be working on projects. Don't forget it's due at the end of the week, so get busy!"

"Project?" I asked.

"We just have to make a poster about the history of humans and monsters, nothing hard," Kris explained.

"Oh… I guess I won't be much help then."

"Don't worry," Susie said, "Kris already agreed to do the whole project."

"I did not!"

The two of them laughed. It was nice to see that Susie had certainly gotten a lot better since our time in the Dark World, but she hadn't changed enough to make her a different person entirely.

"So what are you doing here, dude? Did Kris seriously go all the way back to the Dark World to get you?"

I nodded.

"Gee, Kris. I knew you loved him, but really?"

"Hush," he half-joked.

Did Kris really see me the way I saw him? It was something nice to think about, but I didn't want to go for it. Not yet, at least.  
"Hey Ralsei," she said, "how's Lancer doing?"

"Oh! Very good, he's a good king. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you, Susie."

"...I'm glad."

The conversation seemed to kind of die there, so I shifted the subject.

"How's the project coming along?"

"Well, when you have a human and a monster both in the group it's pretty easy. We're sort of already done," Kris answered.

"Oh. So what do we do then?"

"Sit around and do nothing," Susie said happily.


	10. Chapter 9 - Three Words

"Kris… I just um, wanted to say that…" I was barely speaking above a whisper, and my head turned away from Kris' eyes, "...you're really special to me and… I really enjoy spending everyday with you. What I'm trying to say is, um… I… love you."

Kris said nothing, but instead just shook his head without much expression.

"...K-Kris?"

"Ralsei, you admitted it yourself once, in the Dark World. We humans are just good at flirting."

"So… you mean?"

"I'm sorry you thought that I was serious, but I wasn't."

"O-oh…"

"And we're both guys, I'm not even into that."

I shrunk. Obviously the rejection stung, but to be totally crushed into the ground like that was just too much.

"Sorry, but there just won't ever be anything between us more than friendship, Ralsei."

"...Okay."

A part of me couldn't be too angry with that outcome. At least it didn't seem like it totally ruined our relationship; Kris still said we'd have friendship. I wasn't going to be abandoned by him.

"Anyways, Susie needs help with something or other, so I'm gonna go."

"...Can I come with?" I asked.

"No. I just… no," he said.

And that was it, Kris walked off following those words. I just needed something to distract me, something to push away the pain for enough time that I'd forget it. I went home, that way I could collapse on my bed and no one would have to know any of what just happened.

When I stepped in, Kris' mom called me over and asked me to sit down.

"I'm afraid that I just can't keep you here anymore, it's too much for me to handle. You are welcome to come here whenever, but you just can't live here. I'm sorry, I know you and Kris have been having fun together," she told me.

If I said I was surprised, I'd be lying. Of course my entire world was falling apart right before my very eyes. I asked if I could at least get one last nap there, I needed one right about then, but she dismissed it. All she did was hand me my stuff, which was already put together, and send me back outside.

I threw my hat on. I knew I had to look like an absolute mess at this point, so I just covered my face so that nobody would have to see it. If there was one thing I had to do before going back to the Dark World, it was see the lake one last time.

And so there I stood for a long while, just gazing out into the beautiful blue of the water. I reminded myself of the wish-Kris and I would be together forever-and then cursed myself for making such a stupid request. I tore off the rune bracelet, the one Kris gave me that said 'friendship' on it, I took a look at it for a moment, then tossed it into the lake. With nothing more to do, I went off to the school, and into the closet, back to the Dark World, and into the empty halls of my castle.

"...Ralsei…"

On the plus side, I was finally going to get that nap I wanted.

"Ralsei…"

I jumped into my bed and pulled the sheets over.

"Ralsei."

I rest my head down onto the pillow and closed my eyes.

"Ralsei!"

"Just let me get some sleep, please…"

When I finally paid attention to the voice, I remembered that there shouldn't be one-this castle was empty. I jumped up, and when I did I suddenly was in bed in the Light World, not the Dark World.

"Oh, thank goodness you woke up," Kris said.

"Kris…? What?" I mumbled, trying to catch up with what was happening.

"You must've been having a horrible nightmare; you were saying a few things under your breath and looking upset and kicking a little, and I tried and tried to get you out of it and it just wasn't working!"

"A nightmare… that's all it was?"

"Are you okay?" he gave a tender look.

"Just… a nightmare…" I repeated, it was almost too good to be true.

"Ralsei?" he took his hand and lifted my chin up so my eyes met his.

I broke down, the tears that were forming had to be released. I fell into Kris and hugged him as tightly as I could to make sure he was real and not just a nightmare within a nightmare, and rather than pull away he let me go on, whispering sweet words into my ear in a vain attempt to calm me down.

Eventually he pushed me up so that we were in the original position of us staring at each other. He wiped away whatever remaining tears there were and patted my fur a little so that it was less of a mess.

"Are you ready to talk to me now?"

I cleared my throat, "actually it was us talking in the nightmare that started it all. We were out doing something and then as we talked you got a bit angry at me and then you stormed off… And then I came home to take my mind off of it but your mom said that I couldn't live here anymore, so I went back out to go home… But I stopped at the lake first and threw away the friendship bracelet… And that was pretty much it," I had to stop several times to take a breath and not burst back into tears at the memory.

"Ralsei, that would never happen. Never!" he told me.

"I do and I don't know that-it's funny."

"Ralsei, look at me," he commanded, "I won't ever get so angry at you that I leave you, and mom will find a way to keep you here because she knows it makes you happy. And our friendship is more than just that bracelet! I'm glad you still wear it but it's not the only thing which keeps us together-we keep each other close."

His words were slow enough that I could comprehend each one of them. And they were more than welcomed by my ears and heart, but not my brain or soul.

"Kris… but what if it does?" I insisted.

"It won't."

"But…"

"It will not, Ralsei. Nothing you say will ever turn me away."

"...I don't know, Kris."

"Then say it now and we'll prove it together. What did you say that got me so upset?" he leaned in a little bit.

"I don't…" I stuttered.

"You don't remember?" he tried to finish.

"I don't want to say it… and risk it…" I corrected him.

"Then this mess won't ever be resolved if you don't trust me enough to let me help you," he got up and went to leave.

When I was sure he was out of earshot, I whispered the three forbidden words, then got up to follow him. It was morning, we had school, and I was hungry for breakfast.

Next thing I knew we were in class being lectured on a number of topics. The entire class groaned at the history lesson of one of the human wars, some even questioning why they had to know it when Kris was the only human in the entire town. Ms. Alphys was quick to say that in a lot of the surrounding towns and cities where we would be going for further studies, there would be just as many humans as monsters and that it was important to know both cultures. Kris leaned over to whisper that his brother had been surprised by the number of humans in the city where he was going to university.

Then we went onto a writing lesson, which brought another groan from the class. Neither Kris nor myself seemed to be too bothered with writing; I of course had been very used to it and enjoyed the activity. Our task was to write a simple, one stanza piece of poetry since it was apparently a new lesson and nobody was really used to it yet. Ms. Alphys asked if anyone would like to read what they wrote aloud to the class, but nobody took the chance. I would've, had I not been so incredibly nervous about it. Ms. Alphys laughed at us, saying that it was okay since she wouldn't have been able to do it herself.

Since we were uncomfortable, Ms. Alphys said she would go ahead with the science lesson. We learned about the different kinds of chemical reactions, and she said that tomorrow there would be a quick experiment to show us one of them. We all were disappointed that it wasn't today that there'd be something cool, but she assured us that the wait would be worth it.

Then finally she began a math lesson, which got groans from only half the class. Some students actually perked up for this one, while Kris and I didn't seem too particularly enthused or turned away. It was a simple lesson, synthetic division. Kris said that this was actually something nice for once, it made another process almost completely irrelevant and that this was a much faster and simpler way of going about it.

Considering I had only just gotten here and had barely any prior knowledge of any of this, I was picking up on it quite quickly. We didn't have any schools in the Dark World-we had a few libraries but seldom they were used. I had taken the time to read as much as I possibly could, to understand the world around me and its history. I also just didn't have anything else to do, so it was a nice way to waste the time. But in the end I'm glad I read as much as I did, since I'm sure that's the only way I kept up with the math lesson.

I kept glancing over at Susie the entire time, and she looked lost at just about every word. I felt kind of bad for her, but when she noticed I was looking she just gave a quick snarl and then I focused back up front. One of the times, I whispered up to Kris that I'd like to help Susie understand, but he whispered back that she was starting to get lessons from Noelle. He also added that the two of them seemed particularly close. I never really talked to Noelle so I didn't know what she was like, but I was happy for Susie that she had someone like that.

When class was over, Kris and I stayed to talk with Susie for a bit. Of course, she immediately took the chance to mock me.

"I'd be careful if I were you Kris, I think your boyfriend here is taking an interest to me too," she said with a wicked smile.

"W-what? No! That's not…!" I tried to say, though a lot of it was simple stuttering and muffled sound due to me covering up my face with my hands.

"Hey Susie, I think Noelle's leaving," he said coyly.

"You shut up," she said, "Noelle! Wait up!"

Then Susie darted after Noelle and it was just us and Ms. Alphys. I peeked out to see Kris just smiling at me, then he grabbed the hand that I removed and we were outside before I had the chance to say anything.

"Where do you want to go, Ralsei? The library, the lake? Do you want to just go home, maybe?"

"Kris… don't you think about spoiling me again."

"Awww, but you're so cute when you're like this!" he said.

I had an idea. "Then let's go to the lake," I said.

We ran over, and we were greeted with a view no different than the last time we were here during the day. The sun shone on the water, causing it to gleam beautifully. The wind shook the leaves of the trees all around us, adding a peaceful noise to the pretty scene. We sat down, both of us facing the lake. We set our hands to our sides, and my left met his right-but it wasn't accidental and neither of us were bothered by it.

"I love this spot," Kris said.

I could've easily said 'I love you' right then, but I chose not to.

"Yeah, it's really beautiful."

A pause for silence.

"This wouldn't be nearly as amazing if you weren't here, Ralsei," Kris turned to give me a brief smile, then went to facing the lake again.

"...I feel the exact same."

Another pause, this time a leaf fell before me and I picked it up to start fiddling with it.

Kris laughed, "I could stare at this sight for hours, but I could stare at the person sitting beside me for years."

"Kris…" I said, feeling a wave of heat suddenly.

"What? You're too cute, you know that? Especially at times like these when you're all embarrassed."

"Do you mean any of what you say? Or is it just to see me like this?" I asked suddenly.

"Of course I mean it. You're important to me for so many different reasons."

"...Kris, can you tell me something?"

"What's that?"

"What do you really think of me?" I asked. I had to know.

"...Ralsei, I wouldn't trade you for both the Light and Dark World. I need you to just sit here by my side more than anything else," he said as if it were nothing at all.

"...Thank you Kris…"

"Do you think you can talk to me now about that nightmare? What you said, I mean."

"...I still don't know, I'm sorry."

"Okay, that's fine," he said.

"Is it? I don't want to hide things from you but…"

"I think we've both been hiding something, and I think it's the same thing for us both."

"...What?"

He turned, then brought me in close for a hug. This was the best one he ever gave me; it was so warm, so full of love. That's when I knew that I shouldn't be so scared of telling him how I felt, because he did feel the exact same way.

"I love you, Kris…" I did it. I said it, and in a voice confident enough that he'd hear it.

"There you go, you finally said it!" he exclaimed, "I love you too, Ralsei! I always will!"

We broke the hug, but just so that we could go back to staring at the lake. We rested our heads upon each other, and just enjoyed the view for a bit longer.

"I'll always love you too, Kris. Forever and always."


	11. Chapter 10 - Love

We sat at the lake for a while longer, enjoying each other's company under the newly expressed love we held. Eventually we did get up to leave, but the joy never left my heart. I'm sure Kris felt the same.

"Hey Kris?" I said as we walked.

"Hmm?"

"What did you mean by 'you finally said it?' "

Kris laughed for a moment. "I knew you loved me, I was just waiting for you to make the move."

"W-what?"

"And that's why," he lightly tapped my nose, "you're so adorable when you're all flustered like this! It'd be no fun if I were the one to confess."

"Kris..." I half-whined.

"And also…" he took a more serious tone, "because I want you to be confident in yourself. You're so incredibly perfect yet you can't see it."

"Apparently no one else in the Dark World did, either…"

"Oh, don't worry about any of them. You're here now, and you're with me. And that's how it'll stay," he added on his wonderfully warm smile after.

"...I love you so much, Kris."

I always loved seeing that smile of his. It made me believe in myself more than anything else could.

We ended up going back to the house, not because it was the end of the day just yet but because that's just where we found ourselves.

"Oh? Back so soon, children?" Kris' mom asked.

"I guess," Kris laughed.

"Well then, since there's so much time left today… Kris, remember that the Dream Festival is coming up soon. Have you picked out anything nice to wear yet?"

Kris gasped, then shook his head. "I totally forgot!" he exclaimed.

"I figured as much from you, my child," she laughed, "I suppose you can just take care of it now then. And Ralsei, do go with. It'd be a shame if you weren't there."

The entire time I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. But before I got the chance to ask, Kris had already received a bit of money from Toriel, waved goodbye, and dragged me by the hand back outside.

"The Dream Festival is an annual celebration where each town member says a dream that they'd like to achieve over the next year or just in general. After that we all just have fun in our own ways, so there's usually a ton of nice food, some people sing and dance, stuff like that. It is a bit formal though, so that's why we need to go get something better than, well… what we always wear," Kris finished it off with a laugh.

"That sounds amazing!"

"Sometimes it isn't that great though. We try to hold it by the lake, but sometimes the weather doesn't want to work with us, and sometimes even if we can hold it outside, there's a lot of clouds in the sky so we can't see the stars."

"Well, the weather's been great lately, at least. Hopefully it'll stay that way for the festival," I said.

"I always just think the best part is that we get a day off school because of it."

We both laughed.

"Here we are. Mom gave us a bit much, so if you see something you like, grab it," Kris said as we entered the store.

We split up from there. The store offered a lot to look through, but nothing much caught my attention at first. I liked my robe, it was comfortable and simple, and yet I thought it fit the bill of looking at least a little formal. But eventually after a long and hard search through at least half a dozen options, I finally found something that I'd enjoy wearing that was also what I assumed to be in my size.

It was a nice, collared black shirt, and to go with it a similarly styled pair of black pants. It wasn't incredibly fancy but it looked nice and I thought it would be great, so I went ahead and took it.

I went to a fitting room just to try it on and see if it fit, which it did, and I was about to go find Kris when I realized he found me first and we bumped into each other as I was heading out of the fitting room.

"Goodness, Ralsei! I did say formal but I only said a bit formal!" he laughed.

"Is it too much, do you think?"

"What I think is that you'll look absolutely adorable, because you always do."

"Can we not do this in public?" I asked, not wanting to be embarrassed.

"...Fine, you got me there. Anyways, this is what I got."

"That's more than what I have!"

He had a white buttoned shirt and a black vest to go over it, along with a pair of pants similar to mine. He also had a plain blue tie, all of which would look absolutely amazing on him.

"Okay you're right," he laughed, "I'll be back soon and then we can get shoes really fast and we'll be done!"

As Kris stepped into the dressing room I thought to myself that if Kris was going to look that incredible then so was I. I hurried back to grab a matching set of everything, except in the opposite colors. Since I knew my size based on the other clothes, it was easy to find the clothes that would fit. I rushed to get back to the room, and just then Kris stepped out ready to move on. He instantly noticed I had went back for different clothes though.

"You didn't have to do that," he said.

"I liked what you picked out," I said easily.

"So we'll be wearing semi-matching outfits on our first official date. Ralsei if you aren't the most adorable…"

"Date?" I asked, cutting him off.

"Yes, date. That was what the plan was," he laughed.

"Well then maybe I'm glad we'll be getting these clothes," I laughed with him.

"Come on, let's go get shoes," he said.

Getting shoes was significantly easier. I already knew I wanted something like the boots I always wore and Kris was determined at that point to keep the theme going, so I ended up getting black boots and he got white ones in as similar a style as possible to mine.

We went up to the cashier and it ended up being a bit more than I anticipated, but we had plenty of money thanks to Kris' mom.

When we got back home Kris' mom immediately wanted to see us both in our new outfits, and Kris and I shared a glance and snickered as we ran upstairs to go put them on. I realized very quickly that maybe we shouldn't both change in the same room at the same time, regardless of the fact that we were dating, so I just waited outside while Kris changed. After a few moments passed Kris opened the door and asked me for help with the tie.

"Do you really need help or do you just want me to be close to you?" I asked in the middle of tying it.

"...Both," he admitted.

"Kris," I sighed and rolled my eyes, "you say I'm adorable but have you looked at yourself?"

"If you're suggesting that I'm cuter than you, you are very wrong, Ralsei."

"Whatever you say," I hummed.

Then Kris stepped out of the room to let me put my clothes on. He told me on the way out that he also kind of had that same thought, so he was glad that he wasn't making anything awkward by doing it this way.

I got my clothes on with ease, including the tie. I found it sort of odd that Kris couldn't get the tie despite having tied the white ribbon around my hat, but it wasn't a big deal. After all, part of the reason was just so that I'd be close to him for a moment. Maybe it was the entire reason, and he just tried to hide it. I stepped out of the room and gave him a smile.

"You look amazing," he said.

"You look better. This was your pick, after all."

"Oh hush, we look equally as good, how about that?"

It was too hard not to laugh at Kris.

"Well then, let's go," he said, taking my hand in his.

"Mom!" he exclaimed as we reached the bottom step.

"Well look at you too handsome gentlemen! And matching, even. It almost looks like…" the realization struck Kris' mom, "you're going on a date?"

Kris smiled at her, and she closed her eyes and gave a quick nod.

"Ah, the joys of young love. So who said it?"

"I did," I answered.

"Really? Kris, I much would have expected you to be the bold one," she said.

"He said it was because he likes seeing me get all flustered and embarrassed."

"I do," he exclaimed, "you're cute as is and then you find a way to get even cuter with your blushing!"

Kris' mom gave a wild laugh at that, "I'm sure you two will last. You're absolutely perfect for one another."

"Well I don't plan on leaving Ralsei behind, he needs me."

"And Kris needs me! So it all works out."

"Alright, children. I'll begin preparing dinner soon, do go back up to your room and carefully put the clothes away."

As we were heading up the stairs I could've sworn I heard her add "don't have too much fun, either." I asked Kris about it and he said he didn't hear it, so maybe I just imagined it. He did laugh at it though, so it was worth it to ask.

Nothing much else happened for the rest of the day. Dinner was mostly silent, with only a little bit of talk about the Dream Festival. Of course, I barely knew what it was and just learned of it today, so I really couldn't add much to the conversation other than saying I was excited for it.

And because there was school the next day, we had to go to bed early. Kris and I stargazed for a bit before heading to bed though, and talked for a while.

"I'm glad mom is supportive of us," he said.

I nodded.

"I'm sure there are parents out there that would be against their kids dating. Or they'll allow it but they won't allow dating specific people for a whole list of reasons. I was sort of scared about it; we are both guys after all. I didn't suppose my mom would be like that since she's so kind but… I didn't know either way."

"Then she didn't have the same talks with you as she did me," I said.

"What?"

"She mentioned a few times that she was totally fine with us being us."

"Oh. No, she never did tell me anything like that," he said.

There was a pause where neither of us said anything, and we just stared out at the night sky.

"Well, good that she said those things. I think you should be able to like whoever you like. After all, you can't control what the heart wants, and usually trying to force it down will only make the situation worse."

"I completely agree," I said, "love is love."

"Well, I'm tired. Let's get some sleep," he said as he jumped up on the bed.

We snuggled into each other like we usually did, except this time we seemed to be pushed closer together than usual. Kris quickly got to sleep, comfortable in my embrace.

"I'm glad I met you, Kris. My heart got exactly what it wanted," I whispered.

A soft smile crept on his face and he mumbled my name, so I thought for a moment that maybe he wasn't asleep at all. But before the moment was over, I found myself drifting into my own sleep.


	12. Chapter 11 - Visitor

Another lackluster day at school. I certainly could see what Kris meant when he said that school was boring.

"Just a few days left until the Dream Festival," Kris told me.

"I can tell," I laughed, looking around at what all I could see.

I didn't ever expect the town to jump to life like it did. All of a sudden everyone was running around placing blue banners here and hoisting red flags there, stringing lights around trees and on buildings, among a few other things.

"So what's with the red and blue?" I asked.

"Red for passion, blue for faith. Both colors represent different parts of our dreams; we put our faith in them and follow them passionately."

"Wow…"

It was a lot to take in. I already liked the town's natural beauty thanks to all the trees and the lake, and all the fireflies and the stars, but now there was all the additional color to it.

"Let's get home, mom probably needs us to do something for her."

"Oh, Krissy! Come help me with this really quick!" someone shouted.

"That's Bratty. We're kinda friends, I guess," Kris told me before running over.

"Here, just hold this here for a moment…" Bratty said, referring to a string of lights she was trying to put up over her house. She ran to the other side and attached the end of it really quickly, then thanked Kris.

"Krissy? Who's this?" she said after noticing me.

"This is Ralsei," Kris said easily.

I somewhat shrunk as Bratty came over to look at me closer, too ready for her to find a reason to hate me. But after staring down at me for a second, she turned back to Kris.

"This isn't Azzy…?" it sounded to be both a statement and question.

"No, no. My brother is still off at university, I promise. And besides, Ralsei is so much better than Asriel," Kris gave a loving glance.

"Oh! Is it true? What makes you so special then?" she turned to me.

"Um… I…" I couldn't form a sentence.

Bratty laughed, "You certainly seem to be just as modest."

"...Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

"Not exactly. Azzy was always pretty cute when you gave him a compliment and he tried to play it off like it wasn't true," she said, "but you've got stuff of your own to do, right? Don't let me keep you any longer! Bye Krissy!"

"Bye Bratty!"

We made it only one house before we got stopped again. Kris just gave a sigh before smiling when someone else needed his help. To make it even worse, it was with the exact same task.

"Thanks Kris! Say, who's this?" she said.

"Catty, this is Ralsei."

"He looks like Asriel. But a bit younger."

Kris and I just laughed. We just had this conversation with Bratty and now we were having it again.

"Hey, what's so funny?" she asked, "I wanna laugh too!"

"We were just helping Bratty with the same task, and she said a lot of the same things."

"Ooooh, Bratty! That total copycat!" she steamed.

"I think you two would actually be good friends, you do like a lot of the same things and talk kind of the same," Kris said.

"No! She's just trying to steal my style and be better than me!"

"Maybe just give it a chance," he tried to say. Catty didn't seem to hear him.

"Kris, shouldn't we get going?" I asked.

"Do you have to go already? Awwww, bye Kris!"

We walked the final bit of distance home. Kris asked what I thought of Catty and Bratty, and I had to say I wasn't too impressed with either, but especially not Catty. Kris laughed, agreeing with me.

"I always hated being the mediator between their little fights. I don't really talk to either much anymore," he said.

Hanging above our door was a large blue banner with the Delta Rune inscribed into it. Other than that, it didn't seem like anything else was done to make the outside look any nicer. Though it did make sense, our house was on the corner of town and you'd have to very intentionally come here, it wasn't anywhere that would be noticed a lot.

"Hey mom!" Kris shouted as he entered.

"Oh, welcome home children," she said sweetly.

"You need our help with anything?"

"You know we do not do much decorating for the Dream Festival. All I'd need help with is all the baking."

"Ralsei could probably help a lot."

"Are you good at baking?" she asked me.

"I don't know, I just used to bake a lot."

"He made the best cake for me when I went over to visit, I remember that much. You should totally bake with mom, Ralsei!"

"Well, I'm sorry to say but there's not a lot he could help with. If I want a break I'll be sure to call though!" she said.

After all that we ended up going to our room, having nothing better to do. Kris took a seat on his bed and gazed across at his brother's belongings.

"Something wrong Kris? You seem to be a bit lost in thought," I said.

"No just… they mentioned my big brother. I miss him a lot."

I didn't really know what to say. For a moment it seemed as if anything I could've said would make it a bit worse. But I didn't want to leave Kris in silence to himself.

"...What was he like?" I asked. It was a risk, but I had to try something.

"A lot like you, actually. Smart, caring… helpful, trusting… The biggest differences were that he didn't wear glasses and he was a bit more vocal than you are."

"Is that why those two confused me for him earlier?"

"Probably."

"Did you have a good relationship with him?"

"Yeah. I always wanted to be just like him when I was younger. He'd be the only one I'd talk to in school. He stood up for me and didn't think it was fair that I was being mocked for being human. He was a good brother."

Kris gave a reminiscent smile. I smiled with him, happy that I hadn't made things worse. He got up from his bed and turned to face me.

"And don't think I want you to be any more like him than you already are. All I want you to do is show me that adorable smile of yours a bit more, okay?" he told me.

"Only if I get to see your smile just as much," I teased.

There was a gentle knock at our door, before we heard Toriel's voice.

"Kris! You have a visitor!"

I looked at him, and he showed no signs of knowing who was waiting for him. I only could've imagined it was Susie, but Kris probably would've known that Susie was going to come over.

"Let's go, I guess."

I trailed behind him as he went downstairs, then as his foot hit the final step down he took off and I was left confused. I looked ahead and saw Kris in a big hug with another goat-monster, looking to be younger than Toriel but of a similar form and stature.

"Azzy! What are you doing here?" he shouted.

"I finally got a break from school during the same week as the Dream Festival, thought I'd show up," he said. His voice was mature, and slightly deep, but it still had a joyous bit of youth in it.

"We're very glad to have you here, my child," Toriel gave a soft smile.

"And I'm very glad to be here! College is a nightmare!" he laughed.

I was still hanging by the corner of the stairs, not really knowing what to do. I wanted to go say hi but I also didn't want to interrupt the family reunion.

"So how's school been for you, Kris?" he asked in a friendly tone.

"Certainly better for me than for you, apparently."

"Oh yeah? How's MK, is he still your partner for everything?"

"No, I haven't actually been talking to him all that much recently."

"Any reason for that? I thought he was your best friend besides me."

"Well… I met this one person and… Where is he?"

Asriel tilted his head while Kris came over to the staircase and took me by hand.

"I met Ralsei here!"

Asriel let out a loud laugh. "Kris! I was only gone for a few years, you didn't need to find a perfect replica of me as a replacement!" he continued to laugh.

It may have been just me, but I didn't see a whole lot of resemblance between me and him. Granted they all referred to when he was younger, but I still didn't see a whole lot of physical similarities. His horns were much bigger and curved back for one.

"So where are you from? Cause you can't have been from here, I would've known you," he asked.

I whispered over to Kris, asking him if we should tell them where I'm really from or not. Kris told me that they deserved to know.

"It's kind of a long story," I said, "...and it might not be that believable."

"Well you had to come from somewhere, didn't you? And don't worry about time, we've got plenty!"

So I took to explaining the Dark World and the entire story behind Kris and I meeting, and then how I got here and how Kris and Toriel allowed me to live with them. Both Asriel and Toriel were very quiet during the entire thing, perhaps shocked into silence, but after I concluded they both looked at each other and then at Kris and then they both nodded.

"If I hadn't seen crazier in college then I probably wouldn't have believed a word of that."

"It does explain how you mysteriously appeared one day, child."

"...So you actually believe me?" I asked.

"Why not?" Asriel shrugged.

"It doesn't matter much where you come from, child. I am happy you are here with us now."

"And I'm glad Kris found a friend in you, I was so worried that he'd be all alone while I was away and that nobody would be there for him."

"I think I found a bit more than just a friend in him," Kris laughed.

Toriel joined in the laughter, and it took Asriel a moment to put the pieces together.

"He's your new best bro?! I thought I was your best bro forever! Kris!" Asriel complained.

Kris' laughter grew a bit louder and now it was my turn to join in the laughter.

"Come on Kris! This isn't funny!" he pouted.

"Asriel, you always will be my best bro," Kris assured him.

"Then what…" Asriel thought for a moment longer, "wait, are you…?"

Kris leaned his head on my shoulder, "Yes, that's exactly it," he said.

 **Author's Note:**

 _My sincerest apologies for not holding up to a consistent upload schedule. And I apologize for the pathetically useless chapter that this one was. I've been kind of in a state of writer's block and this is finally something I can push out to prove that the story is not dead just yet. My biggest struggle is making it not as depressing as possible, because that's another thing that's kept me from writing: my apparently permanent state of sadness this year. And it is a problem, because I've taken write what you know to a very literal sense-Ralsei's character has developed a number of my own traits totally by accident, and much of his depression and many of his fears come from my own experiences. This is supposed to be a happy little love story; I don't need the main character to be depressed all the time._

 _Finally, I'd like to say thanks to Yanush for the review. It wasn't nearly as useless as you think; knowing my strengths is just as valuable as knowing my weaknesses! And don't you worry about Ralsei not knowing the town, that's actually sort of the entire reason I wanted to put the Dream Festival in.  
_

 _With that said, thank you for staying with me here, I know I haven't exactly done a good job of keeping you. Hopefully I'll be able to get more out soon but... no promises, of course._


	13. Chapter 12 - The Dream Festival, Part 1

Eventually the day of the Dream Festival rolled around after a much anticipated wait. Like Kris had told me, we did not have school that day and many of the shops were closed as everyone made their final preparations for tonight's festivities.

It would seem that the Dream Festival would be perfect; a warm yet gentle breeze constantly swept through the grass and trees and the sky had only a few clouds scattered about. There wasn't a chance at all for rain, that much I knew.

But I do need to mention the first night of having Asriel over. Since there's only two rooms, Asriel initially believed he would be sleeping on one of the chairs in the living room. Of course though, Kris and I always snuggle at night so we offered to let him stay in technically his room and on his old bed. The shock on his face when he saw Kris and I all wrapped together was priceless, though I only managed to catch it with the corner of my eye because of my position.

But a part of it almost seemed to be jealousy. I think that Asriel might not entirely like me… I think he thinks I'm stealing Kris from him. Both Kris and I have told him that's not at all what's happening-Kris still loves him very much and he's still the best brother, but…

Anyways, with a lot of the places in town closed and all, Kris and Asriel and I just sat around and talked. Asriel told a lot of stories from college, describing other humans to Kris and telling of some of the crazier events that went on in his classes. Kris and I joked that it just seemed like our current school but with more people, and Asriel agreed for the most part.

After a while though, Toriel called and asked for a taste-tester for her pies to make sure they were up to standard. Kris readily agreed, jumping up from the bed and running out of the room before any of us could even stand up. I was about to go follow him when Asriel grabbed hold of my hand.

"Be down in a second, mom!" he yelled.

"Asriel…? What's-"

"Sit back down," he instructed. Or was it a command? There was an odd glare in his eye.

"What's going on?" I asked. I was a little afraid to be honest.

"I'm just going to see what you know. First question: what's Kris' favorite color?"

"Uh-um… it's um…"

"You don't know. It's blue. And not just any blue-the clear blue of the lake," he snarled.

"...Okay."

"Next question: who was the first one to show him the lake?"

"...I don't know. I thought he found it on his own…"

"Wrong! I took him there the very first time. I remember it perfectly-we sat there on the grass, staring up at the stars and watched fireflies flutter by." It may have been me, but it seemed like his voice got louder.

"Next question: what is it that Kris likes about the stars so much?"

"Um…"

"He always got to sit and watch them with me," he smiled, "next question! Who was always there for him when he needed help the most?"

"...You, and Toriel?"

"Only me. Final question: who's Kris' best friend?"

"You…"

"That's right," he walked across the room and shot daggers down at me with his eyes, "and that's how it'll always stay, you got it? Now go apologize to Kris-the fact that you only could get one question right means you don't know enough about him."

I ran out of the room. I couldn't be in there with him anymore. There were tears forming in my eyes, but I wiped them away before going downstairs. Kris… didn't need to know about this.

"What kept you two?" Toriel asked.

"I just had to talk to Ralsei about something," Asriel beamed. His personality completely shifted.

I took the seat next to Kris like I always did.

"Sorry…" I whispered over to him.

"For what? Taking so long? Don't be sorry for that!" Kris laughed.

"...Okay," I tried to work up a smile.

Nothing else really happened until it was time for the Dream Festival to begin. Kris and I put on our outfits, Asriel donned a tuxedo that he said he rented for the occasion, and Toriel wore a silky dress similar to what she always wore.

I made sure to stick close to Kris the entire time, too afraid of what would happen if Asriel managed to get me alone again.

When we arrived at the lake, many people from town were already there. I saw a lot of the school students, including Susie and Noelle, I saw Catty and Bratty, and a whole lot of faces I didn't recognize.

"You all have fun now, I will join as soon as I set up my stand," Toriel said.

Asriel and Kris immediately seemed to find one figure in the crowd: another goat-monster that looked to be around Toriel's age. He had a much bulkier figure than either Asriel or Toriel though, but despite this it appeared that he was tending to some flowers. Asriel ran over, Kris trailing behind, and with me having nowhere better to go I simply followed.

"Hey dad!" Asriel yelled as he half-tackle hugged him.

"Asriel? Is that really you?" he said.

"Yeah! I got time off and thought I'd come to the Dream Festival!"

"Well, it's wonderful to have you here, son. And Kris! There you are."

Now it was Kris' turn to give a hug.

"You must visit more, it gets a bit lonely sometimes," he smiled.

"Sorry, dad. Been a bit busy lately. And it's because I made a great new friend!" Kris pointed back to me. Asriel shot his glare for a moment.

"Oh? And who are you, little one?" he asked.

"R-Ralsei," I stuttered, a little shaken thanks to Asriel.

"I think it's a wonderful name. My name is Asgore, and as you can probably guess, I am Kris and Asriel's father. I run the flower shop here in town, and I decorated the area for tonight."

"I think it looks amazing!" I got out.

"Yeah, good job dad," Asriel said.

"Oh, it's the least I can do," he said.

There was a pause of silence for a moment.

"Hey Asriel, since you're here, want to show me how your magic is coming along? I'm sure you practiced for tonight's magic competition."

"Oh, good idea!"

"Excuse us, Kris and Ralsei," he said.

Then it was just Kris and I. Finally...

"He seems polite. A lot like Toriel, actually," I said.

"Yes… unfortunately they divorced over a few issues. I think Toriel is still a bit bitter," Kris told me.

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"Ralsei, what did I tell you about apologizing? You're perfect, so stop!" he laughed.

"I'm so-" I caught myself. Kris rolled his eyes, and laughed a bit more.

"At least I have both my parents. You didn't really get to know either, did you?"

"No, I didn't. But it's okay! I have everything I'll ever need right beside me."

"Want to go talk to Susie?" Kris asked.

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed.

Susie and Noelle were sitting together at the edge of the lake. It looked like they were sharing one of Toriel's pies and laughing with one another.

"Well if it isn't the two love birds…" Kris mocked.

"Whatever, Kris. You and Ralsei are glued together," she mocked back, "and you're even wearing matching outfits!"

"Hello Kris, hello Ralsei, you both look nice," Noelle said.

"As do you," Kris said, "never thought I'd see Susie like this though!"

"Noelle tried to get me in a dress and it didn't work."

Susie was wearing a black jacket over a white shirt and dark dress pants.

"It was the next best thing, and she seems happy in it," Noelle said.

"I'm tolerating it," Susie corrected Noelle.

The two of them laughed.

"Mind if we sit here?" Kris asked.

"Do whatever you want," Susie answered.

The next few minutes were filled with idle chatter. Susie commented on how good Toriel was at baking, and that I'd have a lot to do if I wanted to best her. Noelle mentioned how her father was doing, who unfortunately couldn't be here tonight and was instead in the hospital after an accident. She was going to visit him later, and so was Susie.

Eventually Kris told me he was hungry, and Susie said she was still hungry, so I offered to go get them food since I also was sort of getting hungry. They both agreed they wanted one of Toriel's pies, Noelle just shrugged and honestly I was fine with the choice.

When I went over there though, Berdly wanted to talk to me for a moment.

"Hey, Ralsei. Can I just ask you something?" Berdly said.

"Of course!"

"Why do you hang out with Kris? You seem pretty smart, but then you hang out with a loser like him."

"Hey! Kris is not a loser!" I shouted.

"Yes he is-his work ethic is terrible, he doesn't care much about anything, and frankly he's not the brightest. He tried to partner with me for the last project! Me! How laughable!"

"...None of that is true about Kris."

"Oh, I get it! You must be just as much of a loser!" Berdly laughed.

I didn't say anything, but instead just put my head down.

"Well see you later, loser!" he said before walking off.

I kept going to Toriel's stand. It seemed like a lot of the pies had already been taken.

"Move," Asriel pushed me aside.

"What was that for?" I demanded.

"You were in my way, and I'm hungry," he said, continuing to the stand and taking a pie.

"...Hey Toriel," I said, "um… one-no, two pies please."

"Go ahead and take them, child! Hope you're enjoying the Festival!" she beamed.

I wanted to say I wasn't, but I masked the urge with a soft smile. Just had to get back to Kris and then everything would be better…

"Thanks, Toriel! Hope you enjoy the Festival too!" I said before walking away.

When I was about halfway back, Monster Kid noticed me and came over for a quick conversation.

"Thanks for stealing my friend," he said.

"I didn't…"

"What? I asked if you were having fun, dude! Are you telling me the Dream Festival isn't the coolest?"

"Oh, I'm sorry-I heard something different. Yes, I'm having tons of fun," I lied.

I excused myself after that. I just wanted to go sit next to Kris again, I just needed his smile.

And so I finally got back. That short trip to get two pies felt like it took ages. I handed one pie to Susie, who immediately took a slice of it after she got it. The other pie went to Kris, who took a slice of his own.

"These pies are so good!" Susie exclaimed.

"Yeah they are," Kris said, "here, Ralsei, take a slice!"

"Um… I'm not hungry," I said.

"You sure?"

I nodded slowly.

Kris ate the slice himself, then sat a bit closer to me.

"Are you okay, Ralsei?" he asked in earnest.

"I'm fine. Just not hungry, we eat a little bit later usually so this has thrown me off my schedule."

"Do we?" Kris asked, "...But if you're sure you're okay…"

I wanted nothing more than to tell him I wasn't at all okay. But I couldn't. I had to just keep this mask on. This was Kris' time to have fun, not worry over me.

Suddenly a figure announcing himself as the mayor stood in the middle of the field. He got our attention and said that the time to say our dreams for the next year was about to begin. We all crowded around, our quartet closer to the edge than the middle.

"I suppose I ought to begin! My dream is to better this town," the mayor said.

There were a lot of people, now that I had the time to think about it. And to see everyone here gathered was a lot.

"I think our special guest of the evening ought to go next; Asriel Dreemurr please come up!"

The crowd erupted into a cheer. I tried to fake the excitement as best I could. Everyone hushed when he was about to speak, as if his words would be the most important thing of the night.

"I have two dreams. One is to continue to better myself through my studies," the crowd applauded such a goal, "and the other is to continue being the best brother ever!"

The memory from earlier came back to haunt me. His words kept repeating through my mind, over and over and over again in a never-ending cycle of pain. I clutched my heart, it was starting to hurt.

"Ralsei! Are you okay?" Kris yelled.

"...No. I'm sorry. Just… just no…" I said weakly.

I turned, and I ran. I ran away from the scene that was about to happen. I didn't want Kris to see me cry. I didn't want to ruin the night with my own insecurities. I didn't want to be the center of all the problems again. Kris didn't need me, he had Asriel! Asriel was right, I really wasn't good enough…

I found myself arriving at the school. I looked behind me, Kris hadn't followed. It confirmed my suspicions that maybe Asriel was right when he said Kris liked him more. The main entrance was unlocked, and I went in. I was going to go back to the one place where nobody would ever have to see me again, where I wouldn't ever be a burden for anyone again.

I threw myself into the portal linking our worlds-I went back to the Dark World.

 **Author's Note:**

 _I deeply appreciate the concern shown after the last chapter. Funnily enough, the day after my uploading of that chapter was when life started to climb back up, so I have been better. And do not fret! I have every intention on finishing this story, frankly it would be an insult to myself just as much as my readers if I didn't._

 _I say I'm better, but then I write this chapter. Honestly, when I thought of making the Dream Festival, this was the immediate chapter that came to mind. While yes it was intended to be a way for Ralsei to talk to more people, it was also an excuse to write what I believe to be the lowest point of the story so far. I do apologize for doing stuff like this to you all. You deserve better-you deserve perfection._


	14. Chapter 13 - The Dream Festival, Part 2

The immediate thing I had to do was tell mom and dad what happened to Ralsei. They'd probably know what to do and how to help. Then I could go chase Ralsei and give whatever comfort I could.

Mom was easy to find in the crowd, though she was standing as far from dad as possible so that was a little annoying. Asriel was with her, having stepped back to let others proceed to say their dreams.

"Mom! Azzy! Ralsei ran off crying, something is definitely wrong!" I shouted.

"Oh dear, I'll go see if we can temporarily put a stop to activities!" Toriel exclaimed.

"...Kris, do you really need to worry about him?" Asriel whispered just loud enough for us to hear.

"Are you insane?! I love him!" the anger I felt at Asriel's words was uncontrollable.

Asriel said nothing in response, and even seemed a bit taken aback by my outrage.

"You did this to him, didn't you?! Is that what kept you guys earlier at home? What did you do?!"

"Don't get mad at me, Kris! I just had to see if he was good enough for you, and, well…"

"And nothing! You hurt him, you idiot!" I shoved him away and stormed off.

Asriel was yelling after me, but I didn't want to hear any of it. I'd just have to tell dad and then I could leave.

I bolted to the other side of the crowd, told dad what I did mom, and he seemed to understand. He also took to seeing if he could put a stop to things for a while. That was it, I was ready to go find Ralsei.

"Wait Kris!" I heard Susie yell.

"We want to come too," Noelle said.

I nodded, the extra help would be nice. The first place I thought he'd be was my house, but maybe he wanted to be alone so he ran off to somewhere like the graveyard or that old hill down south, so I sent Susie and Noelle that way to search. We'd meet by the school if we didn't find anything.

My house was closeby and I thought it to be the most likely spot Ralsei would be at. I needed to know what was wrong and how I could help. If he told me Asriel did anything to him I think the "best brother" would suddenly be the worst.

I ran inside hoping that he'd be standing there, but there was nothing. He wasn't in the living room or the kitchen or the bathroom. I fervently checked upstairs, but to no avail. There wasn't anywhere really to hide in my house, so I left and headed over to the school.

Soon I saw Susie and Noelle coming up together, and I softly cursed myself that they weren't able to find him.

"Why did we meet here, may I ask?" Noelle questioned.

Susie and I exchanged a knowing glance.

"Let's make this quick," I said, "this may be hard to believe, but Ralsei is actually from another world opposite to our own. And the link just so happens to be in our school, and that's why Susie and I were missing all day."

"Uh… okay, I think I get it. So you think he went back to his world?" she asked.

"That's the only other place he could've gone, unless he started running through the woods."

"And let's hope he didn't, we'd never find him," Susie said.

I pushed open the door. I thought it was strange that the school was still open, but it just meant that Ralsei might have come this way.

"So where is this portal?" Noelle asked.

"Right ahead," Susie answered.

"That closet? But… okay?" she seemed very confused.

"Alright Kris, your lead," Susie said.

We went forward until we reached the closet. Just like before, I opened it and out poured darkness.

"Is it… too late to say 'no' to this?" Noelle said timidly.

"It'll be fun! Besides, we gotta do this for Kris!" Susie said.

"...See you on the other side," I said, stepping through the doors.

Noelle's scream behind me as we were falling would've been funny, but a grimace found its way onto my face and it wasn't going away until I found Ralsei. I had a mission, and I was all too determined to complete it.

I landed, and soon Susie landed as well. She tried to catch Noelle, but the speed of her fall was too much to handle. Again, no laughter from me.

"Woah…" Noelle gasped, taking in all the sights.

"Well that's a better reaction than either of us had," Susie joked.

"Wait, what are we wearing?" she remarked, obviously referring to the sudden clothes change.  
"Things can get pretty… weird here. I'm assuming what you have on is something that'll help protect you if anything goes wrong," I said.

"Weird? How weird?" Noelle asked.

"We might get attacked or something," Susie said bluntly.

"Attacked? Oh no!" Noelle cried.

"But don't worry! Look what I can do!" Susie summoned her ax.

"Susie, put that away. We're not going to hurt anyone," I said.

"Fine. But if anything goes for Noelle then I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

We proceeded along the path. Noelle was a bit slow at first because of her want to sightsee, but the dark plants that shot at us definitely put some skip in her step. After that she was practically clinging to Susie. Funny that Susie mocks Ralsei and I for being "glued together" but Susie and Noelle seem just as close.

Eventually we arrived at the Castle Town. Thankfully none of the puzzles had been reset or any new obstacles appeared in the path leading up to Ralsei's castle.

Noelle gasped at the sight of the huge castle before her.

"Ralsei really lived here?" she asked.

"Yes, he lived here alone," I answered.

"Alone? That's… sad," Noelle said.

"And right now he's alone again. Come on, let's go help him!" I shouted.

We entered into the castle. If he was here, then there'd only be one way to get to him, and that was through that first door. I tried to open it, but it seemed to be locked.

"Ralsei?! It's me, Kris! Could you let me in?!" I yelled, starting to pound on the door in annoyance.

No answer.

"Stand aside, I'll break the door down," Susie said.

I did as instructed, desperate for any solution. Susie took a swing at the door with her ax, but some kind of magic force field blocked the hit from doing anything. That at least told me Ralsei was likely to be in there.

"Damn it! Ralsei, open up! We want to help!" Susie yelled.

"Ralsei, I know we've never really talked much but… I'd like to help as well!" Noelle shouted.

"Ralsei, please! I love you!"

Still no answer. Susie went to pounding the door. In the midst of it however, two Rudinns appeared behind us. I didn't hear them moving around like I usually would, so I took a guess and thought that Ralsei summoned them here. What was he doing?

Immediately the Rudinns raised their swords up, and that decided immediately we would have to battle them. But I didn't want to battle, and I didn't want to hurt them, so I didn't even bother pulling out my sword.

"Wow, I've never seen a Rudinn shining quite like you!" I told one of them.

Noelle gave me a sideways glance, but Susie knew immediately what to do, sparing the first of the two. The other one took to the offensive however, summoning diamonds and sending them flying our way.

"Noelle, look out!" Susie yelled, blocking one of them with her ax. The rest of the projectiles were dodged fairly easily.

I tried a similar trick with the other Rudinn, and it worked effectively. They both lowered their swords, and waved at us before heading away.

"What… just?" Noelle asked.

"You can usually find a way to spare attackers with kindness here," I explained, then faced the door again, "that's something you explained Ralsei! Be nice to everyone!"

"Damn it Ralsei, what are you doing?!" Susie shouted in anger.

Once again, there was no answer. But this time the door did very slowly slide open, and Ralsei revealed himself to be standing on the other side.

"...Kris, Susie, Noelle…" he said very slowly.

"Ralsei!" I was about to run up and hug him, but Susie caught my arm.

"Wait, Kris, I think something's wrong," she told me.

I looked back at Ralsei. He lifted an arm up to his side, and in his palm magic started to gather.

"Please… go away!" he shouted.

Fireballs came out furiously from his hand, raining down all around us but none of them actually making any sort of contact. It was as if he purposely missed in order to not hurt us.

"Ralsei… look at me!" I yelled at him. He didn't hear it.

"I don't want to be a burden to anyone anymore! Just leave me here and go be happy!" he shouted, unleashing another volley of fireballs.

This time his attack was much more effective, three of the fireballs he launched managed to hit me. I didn't notice if any of them hit Susie or Noelle. My attention was entirely on Ralsei right now, and if he thought I was going to quit just because he hit me, he had another thing coming.

"I'll be happy when you come with me," I told him.

"Don't lie to me Kris!"

"It's not a lie! It'd never be a lie!"

But again it was as if he didn't hear me. This time instead of fire, he launched stars. They moved much slower, but they managed to catch me off guard and I got hit by one.

"See Kris? All I'll do if I go back is hurt you and everyone else more!"

"That's a lie and you know it!"

"Kris…" he put his hands together in front of him, "just forget about me! You're too perfect for someone as pathetic as me!"

A whirlwind came from his hands, pushing me back a little before I could manage to hold my ground. If words weren't going to work, I had a better idea.

Susie and Noelle watched on in awe as I managed to take a step forward, and then another one after that. Slowly, with all my strength, I was making my way to Ralsei. And then I'd prove that I loved him. But progress was steadily dropping to a snail's pace, as Ralsei seemed to notice that I was still willing to fight back and so he kept increasing the strength of his magic. But nothing he could do would stop me all together! It was just a little more!

When I was right before him, I used the last of my strength to throw myself into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him, rested my head on his shoulder, and just hugged him. His attack stopped, and slowly he put his arms around me. He sniffled, then burst into tears. Breaking the hug now would be heartless, I just rubbed his back and let him cry as much as he needed to, whispering sweet nothings into his ear the entire time until he calmed down enough to talk.

"I'm sorry!" he cried out.

"It's okay. It's perfectly okay. We can put everything behind us," I said gently.

"But… Kris, I hurt you so much just then… didn't I?" he said weakly.

"If you did, I didn't notice it."

Ralsei didn't say anything else, but instead began singing a little melody. In truth, his magic was incredibly strong and I'm surprised I stayed up for as long as I did. But his song made me feel instantly refreshed-or maybe it was the hug that did it.

"Um… Kris, I don't want to ruin this moment you two are having but, can we go home now? Then we can share it with everyone," Noelle said.

Susie was quick to agree. Maybe she was just hungry and wanted more pies.

I looked to Ralsei and gave a smile and a nod.

"R-really? You really want me to come back with you?"

"Listen, Ralsei. You're my friend, and if I want you to come back, I know Kris does," Susie said.

"Ralsei, I love you. That much will never change," I said, "we're bound to have troubling times like these, but it will never make me love you any less. Now please, let's go watch the stars?"

Ralsei gave a small smile, "...Okay, Kris."


	15. Chapter 14 - The Dream Festival, Part 3

Kris took me by the hand and started leading everyone back out of the Dark World. I felt a strong urge to apologize to Kris every twenty or so steps, and though he didn't ever get annoyed, he did tell me not to feel sorry after each of my apologies. I heard Noelle giggle after each instance, and I'm sure Susie was rolling her eyes to go with.

A lot of the other Darkners seemed happy to see us and came up to say hello or just give us a smile. Kris told them that we were sort of in a hurry, and though disappointed, they seemed to understand and let us head on. Noelle made a comment on how it was like we were famous heroes here, and that got all three of us to laugh.

"That's because we are," Susie said.

"W-wait, what?"

"I think we'll let Ralsei explain that one," Susie smiled to me.

Noelle turned to face me and had a curious expression on her face.

"W-well, um… basically there's a legend spoken in this land of three heroes that would come together and help save the world in its time of destruction. I believe that Susie and Kris are the two heroes from the Light World, and I'm the one from the Dark World."

"...Okay. And I'm guessing you've already done some things if this is the kind of treatment you're getting."

"We helped overthrow the chaotic king that used to control the lands. And we helped control the balance of both worlds, at least until it gets thrown off again."

"That's great and all, but you're telling me all that happened in a few hours? Or have you snuck off here some other times, Susie?"

"My guess is that time works a little different in both worlds, which is a bad sign of how long we've been separated. The Sun nor the Moon shine here anymore, either. I wish that our worlds would rejoin; the two halves wouldn't have so many problems that way."

"This is all a lot to take in, you know," she said. And here I thought she was totally with what we were saying, so I chuckled a little to that answer.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Kris! Control your boyfriend, he's saying sorry to me now too!"

Everyone laughed at that, though Kris did come to tell me to stop apologizing for everything.

Before we knew it, we were at the Card Castle. This was where we took a short break; Lancer seemed too excited to see Susie to let us go just yet. Noelle appeared to be quite confused by his behavior and probably had no idea how he managed to be the new king, but we all assured her that this was how he normally was and just about anything would be better than the old king.

We talked and we laughed and then we talked some more. Lancer told us about how the Dark World was coming along, and specifically made mention that nothing seemed to be going wrong. Susie offered to let him come to the Light World, but he surprisingly rejected it, saying that he had too much to do and didn't want to put it off on anyone else. It was kind of good to see that shift in Lancer, further reinforcing my notion that he was a good king. I did tell him that maybe he should try to find someone he can trust like Susie or Kris that he could leave his duties to and come to the Light World every once in a while. He said he'd been trying, but no one seemed as great as either of them. Kris didn't really have much to say, I think he wanted to get back as soon as possible.

"Good seeing you, Lancer," Susie said.

"It was um… nice to meet you…" Noelle managed to say.

"Keep up the good work!" I smiled.

"We'll come back and visit again, I promise," Kris said.

"Bye friends!" he shouted after us.

After arriving back in the Light World, Kris told Susie and Noelle they could go enjoy the Festival, if it were still going on. He wanted to talk to me alone for a minute and would be right behind after he was done.

"Yeah, sure. You two do whatever you need to do," Susie said, turning to leave.

"See you back at the Festival!" Noelle said cheerfully.

Kris waited a moment, almost as if making sure they were totally gone, then turned to me.

"...Ralsei," he spoke, "what caused all of that?"

"Um…"

"Please, tell me. If something's bothering you, I want to help you."

"...It wasn't just one thing," I said.

"I never said it had to be. Just please, start from where it began."

"O-okay… Well, I think the first instance was when Asriel appeared to visit. Nothing had happened, but… his presence sort of worried me. And then, um… and then…" I trailed off.

"Ralsei…? You look like you're about to cry again. Listen, it'll be okay-we can deal with this together."

"...Asriel tugged at my arm that one time, and kept me in our room, and he started asking me a few questions about you, or maybe it was more about him than you, but I got them all wrong and he made me feel like I wasn't good enough for you… He told me to go apologize for it."

"So he was involved in this…" Kris put his head down.

"W-what?"

"I had a suspicion Asriel did something then. Did he say something about how he was the 'best brother' or whatever?"

"Yes! He did do that, actually."

Kris laughed, "He _was_ the best brother. Did anything else happen after that?"

"Um… well, Berdly called both of us losers when I went to go get the pies… and I could've sworn I heard Monster Kid say that I stole you from him."

"Don't worry about Berdly, nobody likes that arrogant attitude. It's best just to not pay attention to him. As for Monster Kid, that sort of surprises me. But you say you only thought?"

"Yeah… when I said that I didn't he said that he asked how I was enjoying the Festival. He got really confused."

Kris gave a short laugh, "I'm guessing when Asriel went up and repeated that bit about 'best brother' that's when it all went south?"

I nodded.

"Well then, I think I need to have a word with him."

"Oh, please don't be too hard on him, he just wants to protect you and-"

"If that's what he wants, he's going about it all wrong. You can protect me just fine; your magic is just as potent as his, maybe better."

"But…"

"And he's not going to protect me by breaking my shield."

"...Okay. Just don't do anything violent."

To my surprise, when we got back to the Festival the town erupted in a cheer for a moment. Toriel and Asgore came to give us both a hug, and Asriel trudged behind. Susie and Noelle also came forward, and so did Alphys and Catty and Bratty and a few others I didn't know. The mayor herself also approached us, welcoming us back.

"I'm sorry, we could not entirely stop the festivities-most of everyone else already has said their dreams for the new year," Toriel said.

"But the magic show certainly couldn't go on without the best judge!" Asgore exclaimed.

"The rest of us have to tell the town our dreams first, Asgore," Toriel sighed, "you may go whenever you feel ready, Kris."

I got a feeling that Kris ignored most of what was just said, because he was focused entirely on Asriel and was staring him down viciously.

"Before we get to that… Asriel! This is your fault!" Kris shouted.

"What? Me?!" Asriel pretended to be confused.

"Don't play dumb! You know what you did-you said all those nasty things to Ralsei and made him feel inadequate! Then you continued to make him feel more uncomfortable until he eventually broke!"

"I did nothing of the sort!" Asriel yelled back.

"Yes you did, Ralsei told me everything-he'd never lie to me!"

"And I'm telling you I didn't, I'd never lie to my little bro and you know it!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Toriel yelled. "Kris, or Ralsei, what is it that Asriel did?"

"Remember when you asked us to taste-test the pies?" Kris asked, Toriel nodded. "Well, neither Asriel or Ralsei followed after me, and Asriel said it'd be a moment before they got down. During that moment, Asriel gave a mock quiz to Ralsei that was entirely designed to hurt him!"

Toriel gasped, the entire rest of the town seemed to join in.

"Asriel, is this true?" Toriel asked.

"Of course not! What good what it do me?"

"Is that the truth, son?" Asgore asked.

"Are you all seriously taking his side?! Fine then, we'll prove who's right in the magic contest! And when I win you'll stop blaming me for stuff I didn't do!"

Asriel stormed off to right before the lake, clearly ready to start the competition.

Toriel laughed for a moment. "He always acts this way when he's guilty but doesn't want to admit it. I believe you, Kris, and Ralsei."

"Seems he still hasn't fully grown up yet…" Asgore sighed.

"...I have no idea what just happened, but… it would seem that this matter will only resolve with the contest, so if we may please begin it now and get back to your dreams later…?" the mayor said.

"Oh yes, of course. Go right ahead, Mrs. Mayor," Toriel answered.

"Um, so I have to participate and beat Asriel, right? Is that how he wants this to go?" I asked Kris.

"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry you have to do this."

"Oh, it's okay. I kind of wanted to participate anyways, but can I ask how it works?"

"Well, it's divided into three rounds. Round one is a magic display, each participant gets one minute to show off whatever talents they feel they should, and points are awarded based on how flashy it was and how technical it was, stuff like that. Competitors are allowed and are encouraged to watch the others-they might learn strategies for the next round. The top eight of round one move on to round two, which is a battle between randomly selected pairs. You lose when you yield, but all forms of magic are allowed-your healing abilities could be great there. And finally, round three is a final show off between the four that moved on from round two. It follows a similar grading scale that round one did, but much more harsh on the technical scale because now they expect you to really show off what you can do," Kris explained.

"So basically it's a display, then a battle, then another display. Okay, got it."

"Because I can't use magic of my own, I get to be one of the judges. The mayor obviously is a judge, and usually the priest and principal are the other two judges."

"All I ask is that you don't be biased to me, okay? I want to win fairly."

"That's why I love you," Kris gave me a hug.

After a few minutes more, Kris was called over by the other judges and the first contestant was signalled to go.

I watched carefully, but most of the competition didn't seem to be too fierce. It seemed to be more fun for them than an actual competition, and how I wished I could be right there with them. After each contestant was done, the judges held up a number ranging one to ten and the total was how much they scored-many of them barely got above twenty.

That was, until Asriel went up. He used many flashy attacks, but none of them seemed to be too technically advanced. For instance, he waved his arm to the side and then a few stars appeared in the distance in the shape of how he waved his arm. Or maybe he'd summon a small ball that would burst into color upon release from the palms of his hands. Overall, I had to give him credit, he had to have practiced a lot because there was definitely a pattern to his casts and it showed. Unfortunately for me though, a lot of what he did seemed to be only flashy magic-nothing that would do any good in battle. I barely learned anything from watching him.

His score was an impressive total of thirty-two.

What I did learn from him though was that I didn't have to be revealing at all. I was last to go, and when it was my turn, I performed a similar strategy, using magic that wouldn't be very effective in battle but still magic that required a decent technical mastery. But I didn't want to directly copy Asriel, so I tried to avoid using stars and flashy colors. Instead, I used fire to light up the area around the lake, like the fireflies would if they were out.

I ended up getting a thirty. I know I heard Asriel laugh for a moment when he saw my score was less than his. But I definitely made it to the next round, having the second highest score out of everyone.

I was in the second pair to battle during round two. I didn't recognize who I was up against, but it was an easy matchup. They scored well in the first round, but a lot of their magic was only flashy-they didn't really practice much for fighting and so when they saw that I could heal myself, they quickly yielded.

Asriel had already gone, and won the battle, of course. This time instead of a scoff, I heard an annoyed grunt come from him. Clearly he was hoping I'd be out by now, but I was just as determined to win as he was.

When the final battle had ended, the judges called for a quick break to let the finalists recover a little energy. Kris came up to congratulate me on getting this far, but warned me that Asriel wasn't going to be pulling any punches.

"Don't worry Kris. I won't be, either," I smiled.

He smiled back for a moment. Then he told me that this round works a little different-no one can watch the others nor can they know the scores until after the final act. I sighed, it was an unfortunately good way of building up some tension.

"May all judges return to their booth and may we have Asriel come up to the lake! All other contestants are to exit the lake area or be disqualified!"

I obviously couldn't risk that. Since I didn't know how far to go, I just followed the other two until they sat down hidden behind the trees and before the road.

It felt like it was forever until it was my turn, though I was the third to go up. Maybe it was because Asriel came back and made the whole atmosphere just feel tense. No words were shared the entire time.

"Ralsei, you're up," Kris told me.

I followed him to the point he wanted me to stand at right before the lake. He took a seat and told me I had a minute to show off any and all techniques I feel I should, focusing on the technical side just as much as the flashy side.

"You may begin whenever you're ready."

I immediately began with a technique I was sure would appeal to the judges. With my hand I made water lift from the lake in a sort of geyser, and I jumped on top of it. For extra measure I made it so my landing would release a few stars along with a bit of a splash of water. I did this three times more until I was directly at the center of the lake, each in quick succession to save on time. After standing in the center for a moment, I released all the water and let myself fall into the water below. I heard the audience gasp at the sudden move-they thought I did something wrong. And that was exactly the effect I wanted. Once submerged I used light magic to create a swirling beam around me that lifted me up, then created a ball of light around myself that stopped my ascent. With the wave of a hand, the light ball shattered around me and burst out toward the edges of the lake, with little glimmers of it floating down like tiny falling stars. I kept myself floating in the air this time, and using the last of my minute, I used my ability to sing coupled with my abilities to summon stars and let the stars light my figure while I sung one of my lullabies.

After all that, the minute ended and I was asked to go back to the outskirts. The audience applauded and cheered loudly, but they had done that for every act so far so it didn't tell me much. I looked to Kris, who only wore a look of seriousness on his face. I couldn't tell if he just didn't want to smile and give away how good I did, or if I did really poorly and he was disappointed.

Eventually we were all called back, and told to stand equidistant apart from each in front of the lake.

"A marvelous show tonight-one of the best in years. Each of you should be incredibly proud of what you've done," the mayor congratulated, "but of course, there can only be one winner. The competition was extremely fierce this year-and second and first place were only separated by one point."

All four of us leaned forward in anticipation.

"Without further ado, in fourth place with thirty-three points, we have Sans!"

"Meh, I'm not one for this kind of stuff usually," he said.

"In third place, with thirty-six points, we have Alphys!"

"W-well, I tried," she said disappointedly.

"In second place, with thirty-nine points, Asriel!"

"What?! Second?!" he yelled.

The mayor ignored him, "And finally, in first place and making history by being the first contestant to ever recieve a perfect score of forty points, Ralsei!"

The crowd burst into applause-that is, everyone except Asriel.

Kris ran over and tackled me to the ground with a hug.

"I knew you could do it!" he yelled enthusiastically.

"T-thanks Kris, and everyone."

"Now Asriel, I believe you owe an apology to Ralsei. You did lose, after all!"

"I don't think I owe him an apology at all! Why should I? You should be happy with me and nobody else!" Asriel fought back.

"...Asriel," Toriel said, "you were away at college for a time, and Kris grew up without you. You can't and won't be there with him forever, I'm afraid. And I understand your fear as a mother."

"But mom! You're just going to let this happen?!"

"When Kris is with Ralsei, it's the happiest I've ever seen him. At first I was a little hesitant to allow such a thing, but I decided to wear a smile and try it, for Kris. And now I can see that this is how it was meant to be-I advise you to open your eyes just as I did."

"Your mother is right, son. If Kris wants to be with Ralsei, and if Ralsei wants to be with Kris, then nothing can stop that. Not you, not us, nobody. And clearly not the distance of being two worlds apart, if I understand the story correctly," Asgore laughed.

For a moment Asriel only looked to the ground, then up to the stars, then down at Kris.

"...Kris, are you absolutely certain about this?" Asriel asked.

Kris nodded slowly and resolutely.

"Then I suppose… Ralsei, I'm sorry for making you feel like you couldn't have Kris. But I only ask that you do a better job of keeping him than I did, okay?" Asriel smiled, and it was a smile to me. It was almost as bright as Kris', and it was one I wish I got the chance to see more.

"I love Kris with all my heart. I promise that's how it'll stay," I told him.

"...Let's put this fight behind us then," Asriel said.

The crowd began cheering again, happy to see the conflict resolved. The Dream Festival was clearly no place for ill feelings.

"Alright everyone, just a few more dreams to say! Toriel, you may go first," the mayor shouted.

She looked before everyone then calmly spoke, "I dream that this next year will be great for the youth of the village. I dream that they all will grow up to be as good as Asriel did or even better."

"Asgore, your turn," the mayor said.

"I only dream that I can repent for my past and maybe better my relations with the rest of the town," he said while looking to Toriel. She rolled her eyes.

"Ralsei can go first," Kris said.

"Um… I dream that I will love Kris even more this coming year!" I managed to get out.

Kris took my hand, "and I dream that Ralsei and I will be happy together forever!"

After speaking his dream, he turned to face me and suddenly gave me a kiss on the mouth. It was my first kiss and I wasn't ready for it, so I'm sure it felt awful for Kris but for me it felt entirely amazing.

With that, the crowd burst into another cheer.

"Alright everyone, the night is still young! Enjoy yourselves for as long as you want!" the mayor exclaimed.

Now the Dream Festival finally felt fun. I don't regret anything that happened tonight, because it all led to that one perfect moment just then.

 **Author's Note:**

 _They finally did it!_

 _Cheers to spatz for noticing my error in calling the mayor a "he," it's been a while since I've played and totally forgot about that detail. I went back and fixed the instances I noticed, though I probably missed more because frankly I wanted to get to writing this. Also, on the note of Toriel being against Kris and Ralsei being a thing, I totally forgot about that too. While yes I can kind of see her being like that, I think her "I want my kids to be happy" would override it and I tried to convey that in this chapter._

 _Honestly, living with a homophobic father makes me want none of it for anyone else, and that's one reason why I very specifically choose to portray Kris as a male. Love wins, it's a theme in so many stories (including this one) and it ought to be a theme in the real world just as much I think._

 _Unfortunately this probably is the end of my rapid-fire upload streak though, I honestly don't exactly know where I want to go from here. There's a chance, a very tiny and minuscule chance, that this might actually be where I choose to end this story altogether. Whatever the case may be however, I thank all my readers and reviewers and followers, and I certainly will be writing more romance sooner or later!_


	16. Epilogue - You're Perfect

The Festival went on for at least two more hours before anyone started to leave. Needless to say the next day was spent sleeping until the sun was right overhead.

Unfortunately it was also the day Asriel had to head back to school. He surprisingly managed to get up early-early enough that he packed and made us breakfast. He gave me the largest pancake, saying it was another way of making up for all that had gone down.

I had already put it past me though. Enough that I was actually quite saddened by the fact that he already had to leave. But he promised he'd come back for another Dream Festival, or at least whenever he could. And when he could he said he'd be the better magician. Kris laughed that I managed to make a rival when I don't even use black magic often.

"Goodbye mom, I'll be sure to grow some more while I'm out-maybe not physically but emotionally," Asriel said, hugging Toriel finishing.

"I'm sure you will, Asriel."

"Kris, don't be too mad at me, okay? When I come back let's all three of us sit at the lake and watch the stars."

"It's a promise," Kris and Asriel exchanged a smile, then a long hug.

"...And Ralsei, I really am sorry. You'll do a great job of taking care of Kris, I can tell. Be sure to give him a hug everyday for me, alright?"

"I don't need any more reasons to hug him," I laughed.

When Asriel came to give me a hug goodbye, he whispered in my ear that he meant it.

"I promise," I whispered back.

"Well… that's it then. I'm going to go say goodbye to dad, then I'll be off for good."

He stepped out to the front of the house, gave it and us one long look, then nodded to himself and turned to leave. He left with a smile, that much was at least admirable. Asriel had a good character, I was sure of it.

School was also cancelled for that day. Seems school can't go on when the principal doesn't wake up until the afternoon. Kris and I were more than okay with not going to school. Rather, he just took me to the library for a few hours and we read. Or maybe, I read. Every time I looked up he was staring at me with a look of such fondness; I don't think he actually read a single word.

Then of course we went down to the lake. Funny how much had happened here at the lake. Looking back on it now, it really is a lot. Our confession and our first kiss are two precious memories I'd always keep with me.

And it certainly wouldn't be the last good memory I made here either, as Kris suddenly pulled me over for a kiss. This time I was a bit more ready for it, and this one felt much more like I imagined a proper kiss would.

"Seems you're a master of multiple kinds of magic, Ralsei…" Kris said lovingly.

"I think you're a bit more magical than I am," I teased.

"I can't beat perfection."

"But you can certainly match it."

After that we simply sat there, pressed up against each other, just watching the ripples of the water and the wafting of the clouds. Another perfect day with my perfect love...

 **Author's Note:**

 _Well, looks like we got here. I didn't think I'd get here ever, I didn't think I'd even write a prologue, but here we are._

 _I had to make an executive decision. I could continue this, or I could end it. I chose the latter not because I hate all of you or this story or romance or anything like that, but because my idea for continuing it doesn't fit with this story. So I made a decision, Perfection will end, and soon a sequel will come about. That's right, there will be more-when there will be more is a different story. I might take a short break or maybe a long one, but there will be more sooner or later. I might actually go back and revise all of this story before beginning the next, because I'm not perfect nor is this story perfect._

 _So I must thank you all for reading. Truth be told, I probably would've ended a number of chapters ago had I not been getting the support I did. But with that said, think of this as the goodbye Asriel had to give. He will come back, and he will come back better! And he left with a smile-that's exactly what I intend on doing. I hope to see you all again for part 2!_


End file.
